Does Rochester Superintendent Get A ‘Golden Parachute’ Payout?
At Tuesday night's Rochester School Board meeting, the board accepted the resignation of Rochester Public School Superintendent Michael Munoz effective in June. While there are many questions floating around, one that's been asked is about a Golden Parachute type contract payout.
Today on Rochester Today, Jean Marvin, RPS School Board President, answered that question with a no.
JAMES RABE Is there a payout that has to happen now that he's resigned? Or is it just going to cut the, cut, the cord there?
JEAN MARVIN Um, by contract and I don't have his contract in front of me. Um, and I, I, it's a public thing. He is entitled to, um, his vacation days, um, beyond that there is not.
Click play to hear the whole conversation about the Munoz Resignation (scroll down for automatically generated transcription).
You can listen to the full Rochester Today podcast with Marvin below:
Today, Michael Munoz issued a statement.
In his statement, which was included in a message sent out to the families of Rochester School District the students, Munoz apologized for "making choices that have set a poor example for our students" and for creating a distraction from the school system's mission." Read More: Statement From Resigning Rochester Schools Superintendent
AUTOMATICALLY GENERATED ROCHESTER TODAY TRANSCRIPTION from ROCHESTER TODAY's CONVERSATION WITH JEAN MARVIN, RPS BOARD PRESIDENT 02-03-21
Jean Marvin, (00:00):
Well, as you said, it was a, it was a long and important discussion that we had. Uh, we're, we're very aware of, um, community input at this point and, and happened for some time. I, we, we take allegations seriously and, uh, we've been listening to our community. We've been, um, having conversations with, um, with Mike, the vice chair and I have, and, uh, the decision last night was that it, at this point, it just wouldn't be feasible for him to continue to lead the district anymore.
So we did it except his resignation. Um, personally, I am relieved that he will continue in his role until, um, this summer, uh, we're going to start immediately looking for a new superintendent, but in the meantime, we have to have a licensed superintendent in that office. And it would be from my perspective, nearly impossible, you know, to have that start immediately. So, um, Mike has agreed to help with the transition to the new person who will be hired. There are a lot of moving parts when you're a superintendent. And whether you, um, regardless of a person's personal feelings about that leader, uh, the work that gets done as important. And so it's really important for us, for the school district to continue to run smoothly and to make that transition, um, successful.
James Rabe (01:40):
I, I think it's a good idea because as, as much as egregious as I think plagiarizing is, I think it is not going to affect what happens from here on out. You know, it's easy to say, okay, well, you're not going to write any speeches or anything, buddy, but you know, you are going to be working on all the things that need to go to make this school district run, because like you said, it's a vital role, but also we can't with what's changing. We can't have the kids fall behind any more than the hand.
Jean Marvin, (02:05):
Exactly. I, you know, I, I don't think that there has ever been while in my years in education and in Rochester, and I've been here since the seventies, we haven't come close to anything that has been this traumatic, this dramatic, um, and it's difficult for everybody. It's a nationwide, um, con worldwide, um, tragedy. And, uh, we are doing the best we can in helping our students and our families do the best they can, but we just don't have good choices right now. And, um, I think it w ould be disastrous for us to lose, you know, the kind of momentum that we have, that kind of direction that we have. Um, so we are absolutely looking for a change, but, um, thankfully we'll have, you know, some time at least to find that new leader and to make sure that we get the right person doing that work
Andy Brownell (03:09):
Is this something you'll bring in an outside consultant to assist with, I know that's been done in the past.
Jean Marvin, (03:11):
Yeah, well, you know, we, we made the decision last night. We don't have the plan for that yet. We will be discussing it's the next board meeting. I am personally, I'm quite certain that we'll do that. We'll work with a consultant who does this all the time. And, um, from my perspective, at least an important part of that will be to get community input about their values, their vision, um, in what they want from a leader, we do have a strategic plan as a district. That's had huge community input in terms of how we want our students to be w w what they should know and be able to do when they graduate from high school, not just the skills, but the qualities and the thinking ability. So that'll certainly play into it, but of course, written while we incorporate many other voices in making a decision like this,
James Rabe (04:07):
Is there a payout that has to happen now that he's resigned? Or is it just going to cut the, cut, the cord there?
Jean Marvin, (04:14):
Um, I contract and I don't have his contract in front of me. Um, and I, I, it's a public thing. He is entitled to, um, his vacation days, um, beyond that there is not.
Click to hear the entire show, including more from Jean Marvin on why they chose grade school and not middle or high school for returning to the classoom.
As always, if you have a comment, complaint, or concern about something I wrote here, please let me know: james.rabe@townsquaremedia.com
Listen to James Rabe Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 11-Noon on KROC AM 1340 and 96.9 FM and Weekdays with Jessica Williams Weekday from 6 - 10 AM on Y-105 FM
Speaking of salaries...