Bastrop, Tx–When Bastrop school trustees accepted the resignation of Roderick Emanuel as school superintendent July 6, they also agreed that he will be acting superintendent until his replacement is hired and that he will earn $157,557.20 a year for the next three years beginning July 26 in a new position with the school district.
The pay pact and other details of Emanuel’s new assignment are spelled out in a new employment agreement obtained by Bastrop-News.com under the Texas Public Information Act. The deal was signed July 7 by school board president John Eaton and two other trustees.
The contract says Emanuel will become director of employee relations after his stint as acting superintendent ends. The employee relations director will report to Barry Edwards, the assistant superintendent for personnel. But Emanuel cannot be assigned to any other post–or his pay changed–without his consent before the new contract expires Sept. 30, 2012, the document says.
Emanuel will also retain top health insurance benefits, travel reimbursement, some professional and civic organization costs, vacation and holiday pay as well as a BISD cell phone.
With prior school board approval, Emanuel will also be allowed to pursue outside consulting, writing and speaking engagements.
When announcing his resignation as superintendent, Emanuel said he wants to spend more time with his family and pursue “other personal interests.”
In an interview with The Bastrop Advertiser last week, Eaton said Emanuel had been considering a new role with the district for some weeks before the announcement, but the board president rejected any suggestion that Emanuel had been pressured to step aside. Eaton also said the school district’s academic performance was not an issue when trustees acted on July 6.
By Texas Education Agency standards, both Bastrop High School and Bastrop Middle School are rated academically unacceptable.
During his seven-year tenure as school superintendent, Emanuel helped win voter approval for a major renovation of the Bastrop High School campus as well as bond money to construct a new high school at Cedar Creek, a new athletic stadium near Cedar Creek and an auditorium and performing arts facility in Bastrop.
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Thank you for covering this story. Would you please post a copy of the agreement in pdf format so that we can see the terms of the contract and who (other than the Board president) signed it?
I can’t post a pdf of the doc at the moment, but I’ll work on it. Witnesses to the signatures of Eaton and Emanuel were Board Vice President Johnny Sanders and Board Secretary Sophia Williams.
Refreshing to know BISD has such deep pockets in creating a new $157K plus position for a person who wants to spend more time pursuing other interests. I suspect with that kind of $ to throw around, we BISD Taxpayers will see a reduction in our school tax. Bastrop-News reports; “By Texas Education Agency standards, both Bastrop High School and Bastrop Middle School are rated academically unacceptable.” Is this the latest 2009 results? If this is so, this rating does not bode well for Emanuel and High School Principal Celina Estrada-Thomas, (who came from the first Texas school ever closed due to poor academic performance.) It just seems BISD just can’t get it’s act together.
The “academically unacceptable” ratng cited in this report are now new. The fact was an issue during the school board elecions earlier this year.
It really shouldn’t surprise or amaze me, after seeing it in action for so many, many years, but it does. The “edifice complex” of school superintendents is what I’m talking about. They all, with few exceptions, demonstrate great skill at “selling” the voters on building new this and new that, while seeming to have little competence at raising the educational standards of the school system the run. How strange.
Unfortunately, this is a trend within the district…there are several “reassigned” employees at Central making as much or more, but without the responsibility – because BISD rarely removes those who cannot perform their job. The voters and taxpayers need to remind the school board members that being an elected official does not make one an expert in the field of education. Unless the new board leader will allow the new superintendent to do her/his job, be prepared for Mr. Emanuel to have a very high paid assistant in a few years.