Willie Francis
November 7, 2013
Gertrude Frances Norris
November 13, 2013
The Terrebonne Parish School Board’s president has announced he will propose extending Superintendent Philip Martin’s contract through 2016 at a meeting next month.
Roger “Dale” DeHart initially said the terms of the contract, including Martin’s $143,500 salary, would not be altered via the extension, though he later said he would consider offering Martin a salary increase depending on whether state-mandated “performance targets” were added to the contract.
DeHart made the announcement because he wanted to let the public know an extension was being pursued and in order to allow the board’s attorney to review all applicable laws, he said.
“I am trying to be proactive rather than reactive,” DeHart said.
Martin’s contract is currently scheduled to expire in 2014. Board elections are also next year, with the new term set to begin in 2015.
The board can legally extend Martin’s contract for two years at a time and for up to two years of a new school board’s term. Conceding the possibility that some school board members may not be re-elected to another term, DeHart said he wants to maintain district stability by firming the future of its leadership.
“It would be prudent upon us to say, ‘Mr. Martin, do you want to stay? Are you planning to retire? Do you want to go somewhere else for more money?’ You’ve got to have a leader,” he said.
Raising the issue one year before the current contract expires is regular board procedure, because “if there is an intention that he’s retiring, or we’re not satisfied with him, we have time before his contract is up to replace him, one way or another,” he added.
If granted, it would be Martin’s fourth two-year term. His contract was last extended in 2011, by a 7-2 vote of the board. Board members Debi Benoit and Brenda Leroux Babin were in opposition. At that time there was criticism from the public and dissenting members that the process was rushed and transparency was lacking.
Since that time, the state Legislature has changed the way superintendents’ contracts are structured. New to the process, as part of sweeping changes to education enacted last year, is a mandate for the board to set “performance targets” for the school chiefs to outline for schools, depending on their letter grades as driven by student performance. The targets are sent to the state superintendent for review.
The school board’s president referred to the new law as “Jindal’s B.S.” and said he would only agree to its inclusion if Martin is offered a pay raise.
“If that’s put on the floor, they’ve got to put money to it,” said DeHart, who added the board’s attorney is examining whether the district can maintain all terms of the current contract.
Though the law does not explicitly say extended contracts fall under this requirement, it does say “any employment contract executed, negotiated, or renegotiated” between the superintendent and school board must meet the new law.
The board has graded Martin as “satisfactory,” the best of three possible rankings, on his annual performance evaluation each time since he was hired in 2009. Despite being judged by his oversight board in a favorable light, Martin has not received performance pay in the past, DeHart stressed.
The board floated the idea of hiking Martin’s salary to $155,000 last year, based on a recommendation from the executive committee. But public outcry led Martin to walk away from the raise. As the chief of Terrebonne’s schools, he has never received a pay increase.
Martin indicated he would accept the extension without a pay hike should the board approve it. “It’s a straight-up extension,” he said. “It’s not any additions or deletions of any terms of the contract, just a longer contract. I certainly would welcome the opportunity to serve longer in Terrebonne Parish.”
Martin’s comments came following a meeting of a task force comprised of business leaders and community volunteers that was jointly formed by the school board and the Houma-Terrebonne Chamber of Commerce after the school board’s 31-mill property-tax increase proposal overwhelmingly failed earlier this year.
At the meeting, some teachers in attendance said they took the election result as a personal affront against the parish’s public educators. One said she felt exiled from the community.
“I don’t want to spend any money in Terrebonne Parish, because I don’t feel like I belong,” said Beth Bajon, an English teacher at Ellender High for 27 years.
Martin, who shepherded the proposal, touted its importance and lamented parish taxpayer support to the school system, represented a different perspective. Citing district performance scores released last month, he said 2013 has been a good year for Terrebonne schools.
“It’s nice to be a ‘B’ school district,” Martin said of the state’s designation. “It’s nice to be 18th of 74 school districts (in the state). It’s satisfying, but it’s not complete. There’s so many things we can do better and so many things we will do better.”
DeHart’s recommendation will come up at the Dec. 3 meeting, at 201 Stadium Drive, Houma.
