Board Approves Incoming Superintendent's Contract

The Governing Board unanimously approved incoming superintendent Wendy Sinnette’s contact during a special meeting on Monday, March 14. 

Sinnette, the assistant Superintendent of Human Resources for LCUSD, was on January 18 by the Governing Board shortly after current superintendent, Jim Stratton announced his retirement. 

Under the new contact, which will go into effect August 1, 2011, Sinnette will receive a base salary of $160,000. Sinnette will also be eligible for a performance bonus in October 2012 that can be granted to her by the Governing Board for up to an additional $35,000. 

“Currently, we don’t have a performance bonus in anybody’s contract,” said LCUSD governing board member, Joel Peterson. “We are one of the very first school districts, that we are aware of, that has this mechanism for any of their employees. [Sinnette] will be the first employee within our district that will have this performance bonus component as part of their compensation.”

Since Sinnette’s base salary makes her one of the lowest paid superintendents in Los Angeles County, the governing board felt it was important to include the performance bonus in her contract.

“A performance bonus is an important aspect of the contract,” said  LCUSD governing board member, Cindy Wilcox. “It is one of the school board’s goals to pay people based on performance and we are starting at the top with the superintendent.”

When determining whether Sinnette will receive a performance bonus, the Governing Board will examine how she met the district’s goals.

“The superintendent has several goals,” said Wilcox. “Often times, the supeintendent has a goal related to budget and finances, a goal related to student performance and a goal related to teacher evaluation. It would be more than just test data. For a superintendent to receive a major bonus, there are several goals that are looked at and data related to those goals.”

Wilcox stated that performance bonuses could be added to district contracts in the future.

“I think it’s quite possible that performance bonuses could be included in other contracts in the future,” said Wilcox. “At the moment, we don’t have anybody else that we’re hiring at that level, but it is possible.”