Letters: Supt. pay doesn’t add up
Re “Pay for schools leader draws scrutiny,” April 1
Supt. Jose Fernandez of the Centinela Valley Union High School District, which has just 6,600 students, earned about $675,000 last year. Hired in 2008 to direct a dysfunctional and demoralized district, Fernandez claims that his leadership took the district from worst to OK.
The district still suffers from chronic absenteeism. Student achievement is shamefully low, bottoming out among the roughly 80 districts in Los Angeles County, yet it has more administrators per student than districts of a similar size.
School boards are supposed to evaluate their superintendents yearly. The Centinela Valley school board evaluated Fernandez one time, then granted him massive compensation almost automatically for years.
Parents now have even more reason to have the authority to enroll their children in another district. School choice will enforce accountability and bring to an end the corruption of school districts such as Centinela Valley.
Arthur Christopher Schaper
Torrance
If Fernandez’s pay had stopped at his base of $281,331, it would have been barely palatable. The perks added to his salary are what are truly outrageous. When you make that kind of money, you don’t need to be additionally compensated for auto expenses ($7,200), a cellphone bill ($2,400) and pension deductions ($18,000).
The real kicker is that the district gave him $230,213 so he could get a higher pension. With all the concerns about runaway pension costs bankrupting the state, this is especially egregious.
For these expenses and the others listed in the article, Fernandez’s contract is morally reprehensible.
Steve Marchillo
Claremont
A superintendent receives nearly $675,000 in compensation for administering a district of about 6,600 students while teachers are being laid off? It appears to me that the elected school board members, at the very least, need to be recalled.
Do we remember the city of Bell?
Gail McClain
Laguna Beach
ALSO:
A cure for the common opinion
Get thought-provoking perspectives with our weekly newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
