Palos Verdes school district appoints new superintendent, pays two salaries

The Palos Verdes Peninsula Board of Education appointed a new superintendent Wednesday but will keep the current one on staff -- at full pay.

Donald Austin, formerly an assistant superintendent of educational services at Huntington Beach Union High School District, will replace Walker Williams, who has has held the Palos Verdes position since 2006. He had announced that he would retire at the end of the 2014-15 school year.

“I am going to give my best effort. Every day, you’ll get all of me,” Austin told the board.

He begins his new role Monday.

“It’s good timing because school is starting,” said John Bowes, assistant superintendent of human resources of the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District. “It’ll be good to have a new superintendent in place to help launch the new school year.”

Williams will remain on staff until his retirement. He will serve as chief executive officer of instructional projects, and continue to receive his current salary of $230,829. Among other duties as assigned by the Board of Education, Williams will serve as a consultant to Austin.

Austin will make $235,000 plus a stipend for his doctoral degree.

Critics, who include parents and some educators, say that the hiring of the new superintendent is only the latest example of the district’s irresponsible spending. Union members say that teaching positions have been lost with no plans to restore them.

Former Chief Academic Officer Martin Griffin resigned in the fall of 2013, amid allegations of poor leadership and on suspicion of uploading pornography -- involving himself -- to a website. The district agreed to pay him his full salary for months immediately following his resignation.

“They’re out of control,” said Barry Yudess, a district parent. “Walker Williams is being given a golden handshake to stay on for one more year...It doesn’t make sense to me that we can’t spend more money on teachers.”

The search for a new superintendent began in February. The Cosca Group, an education consulting team, was awarded a contract to help search for candidates in March. The board conducted two rounds of interviews and hired a third party to investigate the records of all candidates.

“The board wanted to develop a carefully thought-out transition program that doesn’t rush anyone out. We want to make sure that our track record of success continues, and not be in a hurry and pick the wrong candidate,” Bowes said.

The high-performing district has about 11,800 students in grades K-12.

sara.hayden@latimes.com

Twitter: @haydensaraa