Ex-Newport Superintendent’s Pension Enhanced

John W. Nicoll, former Newport-Mesa Unified School District superintendent, has used accumulated vacation days to push back his official retirement date from April 2 to June 30, thus enhancing his annual pension by about $500.

The Newport-Mesa Unified School District Board of Education on Tuesday unanimously endorsed the plan, which was proposed by Nicoll about a month ago. The board and the former superintendent, who had heart surgery in December, had previously set the retirement for April 2, when Nicoll’s sick leave would have ended.

But instead of taking unused vacation pay in a lump sum as originally envisioned, Nicoll will use his 76 vacation days to move his retirement date into June.

The arrangement does not mean that Nicoll will come back to work; rather, it will allow him to remain on the payroll so that he gets credit for 41 years as a school employee, rather than 40 years, state pension officials said. That will, in turn, give him a higher multiplier for calculating his pension.

“There is no out-of-pocket costs to the district,” Assistant Supt. Tom Godley said. “If he stays on until (June), he is using up vacation days and (it is also) a benefit to him in calculating his retirements benefits. . . . We would do this for any employee.”

That adjustment translates to about $40 per month, or almost $500 per year.

Nicoll, 71, will receive about $85,000 a year from the State Teachers Retirement System after contributing to the pension throughout his career. He was the Newport-Mesa school district superintendent from 1971 to 1992. His salary is $106,747 plus benefits.

Nicoll, who is out of town, could not be reached for comment.

“I don’t care about the amount. It is the attitude,” said Greg Wohl, a resident of Newport Beach who organized a drive to oust Nicoll after district budget director Stephen A. Wagner admitted to a $4-million embezzlement scandal. “It underscores what is so indicative of the way (officials in) government and school system work: ‘We have the money allotted to us, let’s make sure we spend it.’ ”

During fallout from the embezzlement scandal in December, Nicoll announced his retirement and underwent quadruple heart bypass surgery. He went on sick leave at that time.

Judy Burns, information officer for the State Teachers Retirement System in Sacramento, said the arrangement “doesn’t seem terribly unusual to me.” Burns said that more than 80% of the pension’s money comes from monthly employee and employer contributions, and the rest from state funds.

Forrest K. Werner, a board member and friend of Nicoll, traced the situation to the “anxiety about what was going on” in December. When Nicoll “decided to announce his intentions . . . I am not sure he had sat down with the (pension) people and ironed everything out,” he said.

In February, a state pension official told Nicoll to use the vacation coming to him to enhance his benefits, Werner said, adding that Nicoll approached interim superintendent Stanley Corey about it, and Corey said that the board could vote on the change.

One parent said she was embarrassed that this happened over an insignificant amount of money.

“I would have expected Dr. Nicoll to do it more gracefully,” said Cindy Hollern, who has three children in Newport-Mesa schools. “Somebody loses, even if it is not our district.”