HUNTINGTON BEACH : School Supt. Given Contract Extension

School trustees have granted Huntington Beach Union High School District Supt. David J. Hagen a one-year contract extension until June 30, 1996, despite warnings from Trustee Jerry Sullivan that such long-term contracts can be risky business, particularly for financially strapped districts.

Hagen, who earlier this year told officials he wouldn’t accept a pay increase because other district employees didn’t receive one for 1992-93, said the extension sends “a clear message to the superintendent and organization that there’s going to be a commitment to the long-range goals, mission and strategies” formulated by district officials.

The trustees, voting Tuesday, also deleted a provision in Hagen’s present contract requiring the district to pay him the median salary for school superintendents in Orange County.

Hagen, 47, who earns $98,278, joined the Huntington Beach Union High School district 23 years ago as a social science teacher. He was named superintendent in 1991, after serving as an assistant principal, principal and assistant superintendent.

With an election nearing, Sullivan warned that school boards often change makeup and resort to buying out the contracts of superintendents they wish to terminate. “When philosophies or other things change, people pay a lot of money buying up contracts,” he said.

Taxpayer-financed buyouts occurred recently in the Orange Unified School District and the Huntington Beach City School District, Sullivan noted.

Sullivan abstained from voting against the extension, claiming that he wanted merely to make a philosophical point. Sullivan said Hagen is doing a good job in difficult times.