Ex-Superintendent Sues School District

A former superintendent of the Oxnard Union High School District who resigned at the demand of the school board has sued the district for about $47,000 in lost wages.

Ian C. Kirkpatrick, who headed the 12,200-student district for only two years before his abrupt departure in May, 1992, claims in his suit that school officials owe him the difference between his former salary in Oxnard and that of his current, lesser-paying job.

At the time Kirkpatrick left the Oxnard district, his salary was $89,700. Although he had a three-year contract with the district, he agreed to resign with the board’s written agreement to pay him $7,825 per month for one year or until he found a job with a comparable salary, court documents show.

About seven months after leaving Oxnard, Kirkpatrick took another job as superintendent with the Windsor Unified School District in Northern California. Subsequently, the Oxnard district ceased its payments.

But the job with the Windsor district, which is only about one-fifth the size of the Oxnard high school district, pays about $7,000 less per year than what Kirkpatrick had earned in his previous position.

Kirkpatrick claims in the suit that the district owes him the $7,825 payments for each of the remaining six months from January to June of 1993--which amounts to $46,950.

Oxnard district Supt. Bill Studt declined to discuss the issue because it is under litigation.

Kirkpatrick could not be reached for comment. But his attorney said Kirkpatrick believes his cause is just.

“He thinks he’s entitled to additional compensation because he didn’t find comparable employment,” attorney Bill Shaeffer said.