Davis released from assistant superintendent contract, LCUSD will keep vacancy and save $150K
Jeff Davis, La Cañada Unified School District’s assistant superintendent of human resources who recently announced he would be leaving the district, was released from his contract in a special school board meeting Aug. 25, during which Supt. Wendy Sinnette explained his job duties would be assumed by existing staff at a savings of $150,000.
Having served in the same position before becoming superintendent in 2011, Sinnette explained she would take over the bulk of Davis’ responsibilities. She assured the school community she was up to the task and wanted to be transparent about the reassignment.
“It is important that LCUSD staff experience no break in services,” Sinnette said, adding that her cabinet would continuously check in with staff, administrators, teachers and parents to make sure all needs were being met.
“It serves the district in the best possible way,” she said of the arrangement.
The school board also approved an expansion of duties and new title for Chief Business and Operations Officer Mark Evans, who was appointed assistant superintendent of business and administrative services. In that capacity, Evans will serve as lead negotiator for the district in talks with bargaining units and one of Sinnette’s designees for hearing employee complaints and grievances.
Davis’ salary for the 2017-18 school year was $153,704, according to district figures. The new position approved Friday does not come with a pay raise for Evans, whose current salary stands at $159,083. Evans explained the $150,000 in savings amounts to the remaining five-sixths of Davis’ salary this fiscal year, plus benefits.
To cover the vacancy, additional duties will be assigned to the district’s chief technology officer and assistant superintendent of educational services, who will also be called upon to hear employee complaints and grievances, and to the assessment director, documents indicate.
Sinnette encouraged employees to bring any issues to her for prompt response or delegation.
“We will send guidelines to LCUSD staff … an invitation that if something comes up, please come to me and I’ll handle it or I’ll assign it,” she added. “That would be the first point of contact.”
Aside from the temporary cost savings associated with keeping Davis’ position vacant for the current school year, Sinnette said Friday the difficulty of finding a suitable replacement in the fall semester was also a factor.
“Both Glendale and Burbank have assistant [superintendent] of H.R. openings, and it’s just not the season for us to fill this position,” she said, adding that springtime is best for recruiting candidates.
LCUSD Governing Board President Dan Jeffries expressed his hope the search for Davis’ replacement would begin soon.
“We want to be mindful that we need to start the hiring process early, in terms of reaching out to attract a good, qualified pool of candidates,” he said.
After Friday’s meeting, Davis said he agreed with the district’s decision not to fill his position for the year and expressed confidence the tight-knit, well-run administration could pull it off.
“The cabinet is so talented and she’s such a great leader,” Davis said, referring to Sinnette. “When you add those things together, they’ll be fine.”
Twitter: @SaraCardine
