Column: What Norfolk superintendent's severance could buy

NORFOLK

As the holidays approach and Norfolk Public Schools are again under the direction of an interim leader, it’s hard to know whether Richard Bentley was too naughty or nice in the 16 months he was superintendent. The School Board has said only that its relationship with him was "no longer productive."

What we do know is that he left last month with a $236,000 separation package. His contract stipulated that if he quit early – as opposed to being terminated "for cause" – he’d receive 12 months’ pay ($200,000) plus a sum covering 12 months’ health insurance for him and his wife.

Whatever the behind-the-scenes reasons for Bentley’s exit, many taxpayers may wonder what else they could have gotten for that money. Consider that $236,000 would pay for:

- Six full-time teachers at the lowest pay grade of $38,012 a year

- 2,950 days of substitute teachers at $80 a day

- 143,030 lunches for elementary pupils at $1.65 per meal

- Nearly the entire amount ($239,000) budgeted for supplies and regional education programs for gifted/talented students

- Fees for 2,712 Advanced Placement tests at $87 per test

- Photocopying more than 62 million pages at $0.0038 per sheet on division equipment

- A year’s worth of supplies ($233,675) for the division’s information technology department

- A year’s worth of supplies ($225,010) for student extracurricular activities including band, commencement activities, SOL remediation and student clubs (but excluding athletics)

- Here’s another calculation: divide the severance package by Norfolk’s 31,000 students and the cost is $7.61 per pupil.

Why was the severance as big as it was?

"We found that it did meet the standards of the industry; that was the recommendation of our counsel," School Board Chairman Kirk Houston said. "I doubt very seriously if a contract would be given to us that is completely atypical of a superintendent’s contract both statewide and nationally."

Ronald Barnes of the BWP & Associates superintendent recruiting firm in Illinois likened superintendent contracts to prenuptual agreements: Both parties agree on what the executive will get if the relationship breaks up unexpectedly.

Because urban divisions are known for high superintendent turnover, many candidates won’t take the job without a severance clause in the contract, he said. Barnes, who was not involved in Bentley’s recruitment, said some packages are richer than others.

Some school employees have rumbled unhappily about the size of Bentley’s severance, said Thomas Calhoun, president of the Norfolk Federation of Teachers.

But Calhoun’s question is this: Is Norfolk addicted to high buyouts for public executives?

He cited former City Manager Regina V.K. Williams, who retired under pressure from the City Council with a package worth about $369,000 last year.

The Hampton Roads Transit board agreed last year on a nearly $300,000 buyout to remove former president Michael Townes.

Police Chief Bruce P. Marquis was shown the door this year with $38,926 – equal to three months’ pay – plus $32,413 for 433 hours of unused leave. He receives an additional retirement payment of $2,429 per month.

With high severance buyouts for private corporate executives, the cost is born by shareholders.

But public executive payouts tap taxpayers, at a time when Norfolk school and municipal workers have gone without raises for years.

It may be something to keep in mind as Norfolk again searches for a superintendent.

This piece, a Class Notes column, originally appeared in the Compass section of The Pilot on Sunday, Dec. 4.

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