Matthews to stay in Lafourche until 2019

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The Lafourche Parish School District Finance Committee voted last Wednesday to renew Superintendent JoAnn Matthews’ contract, keeping her on until 2019 with no increase in pay and a provision that she tap into deferred retirement benefits.

Matthews’ drawing early from her retirement means $78,000 in savings for the school district in the long run because the school district no longer has to contribute that money to her retirement account.

According to Don Gaudet, fiscal officer for the LPSD, that amount is what he projected would be paid into Matthews’ retirement account would she not tap into deferred retirement and work through 2019, meaning less money for the superintendent in the long run.


“That’s OK,” Matthews said. “The thing that I am more concerned of is looking at the savings for the district as I’ve done with every other position that’s out there. I need to do that as far as my position is concerned, as well.”

Matthews’ current contract ends on June 30, 2016, and would be extended until March 31, 2019, should the board vote to approve her extension at their next regular board meeting scheduled for June 10.

“Going up to 2019, is an important date,” said school board member Ronald Pere. “It would be like the first quarter of the new board.”


Matthews’ only conditions for renewing her contract aside from freezing her pay at the current rate were that she receive an additional 10 days of paid vacation, which rolls forward each year.

Her original contract gives her three paid vacation days each year – the same as teachers, according to school board policies.

Matthews first entered into a contract with the board in early 2008 with a salary of $135,945. Her original contract provided a 5 percent salary increase every year. In June 2012, the school board voted to increase the yearly raise to 10 percent.


The Times calculates that with the yearly increase, Matthews’ salary in 2015 is $219,937.

That figure doesn’t include any additional benefits, bonuses, expenses or the SUV provided to her by the school district.

Gaudet could not provide the figures of how much Matthews gets in additional benefits in time for the printing of this story.


According to Matthews’ contract, the school board is responsible for 100 percent of the contributions to her health insurance and retirement programs.

Matthews reported $214,014 gross pay to the IRS in 2014.

Matthews also said during the meeting that she had not originally intended to renew her contract when it expired next year, but, at the urging of various school board members and because of the tumultuous times the school district is currently facing with the possibility of substantially reduced revenue in coming years, she decided to stay on board for a while longer.


The state legislature, faced with a $1.6 billion budget deficit in next year’s budget, is considering exempting offshore vessels and business inventories from property taxes, which would eliminate a combined $19 million in revenue for the district.

“Thankfully the board members thought that we really needed to have consistency moving forward working to improve the district over the next couple of years,” Matthews said.