Vote to Buy Out Head of Schools Arouses Anger

The decision by the Lynwood Unified School District Board of Education to buy out its superintendent and the board’s refusal to discuss its reasons publicly have angered some members of the community and teachers’ union officials.

They are questioning the board’s vote Monday to spend $195,000 to buy the remainder of Supt. LaVoneia Steele’s three-year contract without a full public explanation. Critics also are wondering about the board’s failure to present a plan for selecting a replacement.

“It is insulting. It is a slap in the face. We deserve an intelligent answer and an accountability of the taxpayers’ money,” Cynthia Green-Geter said.

“What is the board’s plan for naming a new superintendent? Nothing has been said to the community about this,” said Green-Geter, an unsuccessful school board candidate in November and vice president of the Lynwood Parent-Teacher Assn.

If there is no detailed explanation, Green-Geter said, a recall of the majority of the board that voted to accept Steele’s resignation should be considered.

The board voted 3 to 2 Monday to buy out Steele’s contract. It appointed Associate Supt. Audrey Clarke interim superintendent until next Tuesday’s board meeting. The board did not state whether or not Clarke would remain in the job until a replacement for Steele is found.

Board President Joe Battle said a press release will be issued at Tuesday’s meeting on Steele’s resignation, but because of legal constraints, he said, only “vague” information will be offered.

JoAnn Daniels, president of the Lynwood Teachers Assn., said: “I think it would have been better if the board kept the superintendent and made her straighten out the problems, rather than spending the money that could have been used for students.”

“The district recently had to pay a huge fine for overcrowding. We cannot continue to lose money,” Daniels said.

The district, which has 14,500 students, was fined $360,000 last year by the state Department of Education for violating the state’s limit on class sizes.

“Will the board tell the teachers there is no money when we start negotiations next month on salaries?” Daniels asked.

After working for more than a year without a contract, Lynwood teachers settled for a three-year pact in September. The contract gave teachers a pay increase of 6% retroactive to September, 1988, and another 6% increase for 1989.

Battle and board members Thelma Williams and Willard Hawn Reed voted to buy out Steele’s contract. Steele was superintendent for more than four years, and during her tenure there were problems with overcrowded classrooms, poorly maintained schools and a loss of teachers. Union officials estimated that as many as 100 of the district’s 650 teachers resigned.

The board’s decision only reflects the “instability” and chaos in a troubled district, which also bought out an assistant superintendent two months ago and remained silent on the reasons, one administrator said.

Clifford Koch, assistant superintendent for business, received a $43,000 settlement in November after the board failed to renew his contract, according to the controller’s office.

Board member Richard Armstrong described Koch as “a nice man” who was unable to perform his job to the board’s satisfaction.

Koch would would only say: “We parted because we ran into some sharp differences.”

However, Koch said he was “flabbergasted about Dr. Steele. I thought she was well regarded by the board.”

Steele also has refused to comment other than offering “best wishes to everybody.”

Armstrong and board member Rachel Chavez, who opposed the buyout, said they have not been told specifically why the board bought out Steele.

“I don’t know why they believed she had to be let go immediately. She should have been given time to work things out,” Chavez said.

But Williams said she voted to accept Steele’s resignation because, “I personally did not think she could handle the job.”

While Williams would not blame Steele for the district’s troubles, she said she hoped a new superintendent would be able to solve them.

Williams said the business office “was in shambles” before Koch was bought out. She said there were complaints of employees’ not receiving proper amounts of money in their paychecks.

Earlier Battle said the majority of board members lost confidence in Steele. He said she failed to repond to board requests that she solve some of the district’s problems.

Former board member Helen Andersen said she warned Steele about the problem of overcrowded classrooms before the district was fined, and Steele ignored her. Anderson was defeated last November.