Grant school board OKs controversial buyouts

Under threat of a lawsuit by teachers unions and facing an ongoing investigation by county education officials, the Grant Joint Union High School District board approved a plan Wednesday night to buy out up to 19 managers.

The exact cost of the severance plan will depend on how many of the eligible administrators choose to participate.

Under the plan, Grant's top-level administrators will receive at least a year of pay if they agree by May 15 not to take a job with Twin Rivers Unified School District, which soon will replace Grant.

Their annual salaries range from about $100,000 to $171,708 and their severance payments go as high as $257,562. If all 19 managers accept the buyout, the cost to Grant would be more than $2.5 million.

Hours before the trustees' unanimous decision, lawyers representing the Grant and Twin Rivers teachers unions sent them a letter threatening to sue if they approved the buyouts.

"The proposed severance payments made to secure a resignation are gratuitous, a 'gift,' and prohibited by law," says the letter from attorneys Margaret Geddes and A. Eugene Huguenin Jr.

A lawyer representing the managers in line to receive the buyouts said at the meeting that the plan is completely sound. Greg McCoy said it simply honors the rights the employees have under their contracts with Grant.

The district no longer will exist come July 1. Voters decided to merge Grant and three of its feeder elementary districts – Del Paso Heights, North Sacramento and Rio Linda – to form a new K-12 school system.

Under state laws governing school district mergers, employees are guaranteed work for two years – at the same pay, but not necessarily in the same positions.

But the process hasn't gone smoothly. Grant managers say they've been disrespected by Twin Rivers' hiring choices because the new district has selected elementary educators for its top positions. Twin Rivers officials say Grant managers did not apply for top jobs with the new district.

All of it has renewed old rivalries among the north area communities involved in the merger.

"I see what's happening here tonight as a sad ending to a very bitter legacy," said Howard Lawrence, who worked on the Measure B campaign to merge the four school districts.

He said he didn't know if the buyout plan was good for taxpayers but understood why the Grant managers were "looking for a way out" – because the Twin Rivers board had launched a "witch hunt" against Grant.

But communities with historic beefs shouldn't use taxpayer money to get revenge, said David Gordon, superintendent of Sacramento County schools. He oversees school district finances and holds the funds Grant plans to use for the buyouts.

"We're going to continue our investigation, and no checks will be issued until that's completed," Gordon said after Wednesday's meeting.

"We have to get considerably more information."

Gordon's concerns about a previous buyout plan caused the Grant board to scrap it. But the plan approved Wednesday doesn't seem substantially different, Gordon said, so he still wonders whether it is legal.

People who have opposed the buyout plan from the beginning spoke out again at Wednesday's meeting: Grant teachers, a Twin Rivers administrator and a few district residents.

But a new group also emerged – people who urged the board to approve the buyouts. They included family members and colleagues of Grant managers eligible for the plan.

"I support your decision and applaud you," said Jennifer Hicks.

Her sister, Rebecca Gholson, also commended the board. The two said they are daughters of John Raymond, an assistant superintendent with Grant who would receive $208,502 in severance under the plan.

Jacques Whitfield, Grant's longtime attorney who is in line to receive a $229,350 buyout, sent an e-mail Wednesday morning urging a dozen of his contacts to "come and support the Grant board's action this evening."

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