Divided Clark Co. board revises superintendent's contract to increase both work days and vacation time, then gives him one-year contract extension

Winchester Sun, July 20, 2017

Clark school board renews superintendent contract
By Seth Littrell

Clark County Public Schools Superintendent Paul Christy’s contract was extended and given an effective raise Tuesday night, but not before some contention between board members.

After discussing the contract for more than an hour, the board ultimately decided to amend Christy’s contract to have 260 work days instead of the current 240.

Board members then approved giving Christy an additional 20 days of vacation time, effectively giving the superintendent enough paid days off to offset the extension.

The extension will also increase the number of days contributions are made to Christy’s retirement through the Kentucky Teachers Retirement System.

The amendment was proposed by board member Scott Hisle, who said he wanted to discuss it because it would offer Christy some of the benefits he requested of the board while relatively maintaining what the district currently spends on the superintendent’s contract.

The amendment passed by a narrow margin, with Hisle, board member Ashley Ritchie and board Chairman Michael Kuduk voting in favor and board member Gordon Parido voting against. Board member Judy Hicks left during the meeting and was absent for the vote.

During discussion, Kuduk told board members he was upset because the time spent talking about Christy’s contract, which has been spread over four meetings, has postponed discussion about revising board and superintendent goals, which were tabled for an upcoming meeting.

“I think that’s an important document,” Kuduk said, holding up the list of goals. “This is our blueprint for improvement, I want us to talk about this with the same length and the same detail we do about everything else.”

He then slammed the list on the table he and other members were sitting at.

Hisle apologized to board members for not coming up with the idea sooner, but he added that he thought it was more beneficial to Christy and the district.

Christy himself said the decision was between what he had asked the board for and where he currently was, which was what he expected to get.

“It’s about half what I asked for, but thats about what I expected,” Christy said. “I just want to move forward.”

He added that he has been uncomfortable with the ongoing discussion about his compensation over several meetings.

Ritchie said she was opposed to delaying the decision any longer, and she wanted something that Christy and the board members were happy with.

Hisle proposed creating an amendment to the contract with general language that board attorney William Elkins would then fine tune, but Kuduk insisted on the language being decided on at the meeting before any changes were voted on.

During the discussion, Hicks announced she was leaving the meeting.

Kuduk later agreed to vote on the issue and to then task Elkins with crafting the specific language. Elkins would then submit the amendment to Kuduk for approval before sending it on to the Kentucky Department of Education.

The four board members then voted to extend Christy’s contract for an additional year.