School districts: compensation of district superintendents.

Existing law establishes the system of public elementary and secondary education in this state. Under that system, the governing boards of school districts throughout the state operate elementary and secondary schools and are authorized to employ various employees and officers, including a district superintendent. Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district to elect a district superintendent, among other officers, for a term of no more than 4 years. This bill would, commencing January 1, 2010, require the governing board of a school district to include specified provisions in any contract for the services of a district superintendent, including the authority to terminate the district superintendent at any time during the term of the contract, with the district retaining an option, if the amount remaining in the contract is less than $50,000, to either release a district superintendent from any further responsibilities with the district or to provide the former district superintendent with a full-time position with the district for which the former district superintendent is qualified. The bill would specify that, if the district chooses to release the former district superintendent from any further responsibilities with the district, the former district superintendent would agree that any income he or she earns during the term of the contract as the superintendent or chief executive officer of a school district in the United States shall be offset from the amount otherwise owed to the former district superintendent under the contract. For terminations of contracts in which the amount remaining is $50,000 or more, the school district would be required to provide the former district superintendent with a full-time position with the district for which the former district superintendent is qualified. The bill would also require that the contract include a provision requiring that the district superintendent receive no retirement, medical, dental, or other benefits that would exceed the benefits that any certificated employee of the school district receives, but the bill would authorize the district to compensate the former superintendent for benefits actually earned.