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July 15, 2015
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July 15, 2015
Terrebonne schools superintendent Philip Martin will see a nearly 29 percent increase in his salary, effective this fiscal year which began on July 1.
The board approved a new base salary of $185,000 for Martin and extended his contract to the end of 2018, after only one citizen expressed dissatisfaction with the pay increase. The motion to increase the salary was based on a recommendation from the June 15 meeting of the Finance, Insurance and Section 16 Lands Committee.
However, board member Debi Benoit, chair of the Finance, Insurance and Section 16 Lands Committee, offered a substitute motion that failed which would have limited the salary increase to 15 percent, with 5 additional vacation days and maintained the 2018 extension. Benoit said she offered the motion in an effort to “unify the board and reach a compromise and to respect a critical mass” of those opposed to the larger increase. Benoit’s motion also included the provision that the pay raise would become effective October 25, so that teachers would have gotten their first paychecks that included their raises. Benoit said the teachers are
“outraged at the amount of the superintendent’s increase and at the timing.” Benoit’s motion also included the addition of “measurable objectives” to the superintendent’s contract. Vickie Bonvillain, board member, asked for clarification on the superintendent’s base pay, which she said, had been reported in different amounts. Martin said he gets a car allowance of $6500 a year, plus a professional improvement incentive that he earned years ago. Those things, Martin said, are not tied to his contract amount. Bonvillain said she was concerned that such a large increase in the superintendent’s salary might cause the board to lose public trust, which she called “a precious commodity.” L. P. Bordelon, who noted his district is the largest in the parish, said he had not heard of any outrage.
Gerald Michel, a concerned citizen who said he’s not satisfied with the school system’s performance, suggested that Martin’s pay increase be linked to the parish’s ACT scores, which he said, have not shown an increase. Citing data from the state Department of Education’s website, he said, “No matter how the data is calculated, the district has not done better during Philip Martin’s tenure. Perhaps his salary should be increased by the same percentage that the ACT scores were increased, oh, but that would be a decrease.”
In response to that, board president Roosevelt Thomas held up a copy of an email from the state Department of Education inviting representatives of the district to participate in a webinar, scheduled for the following day. Only those districts showing significant improvement were invited to participate, Thomas said. “Here it is in black and white.”
The board also approved the hiring of a communications officer, to which board member Donald Duplantis objected. He moved that the board not fund the public information officer position “at this time,” but the motion failed because of lack of a second. That motion had also failed in committee, Benoit explained.
The board also approved a proposal for student accident insurance, with a nearly $25,000 decrease in premium. Marc Harris, the agent of record, explained to the board that “adjustments had been made” to get the cost of the premium down, but he assured board members that no changes had been made to the catastrophic coverage.
