One for the Price of Two

Maggie Burks

Then-Jackson Public Schools Superintendent Earl Watkins spoke to an audience of teachers, administrators and students at Poindexter Elementary School in September 2007.
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by Ward Schaefer
September 3, 2008

In its zeal to find a new superintendent, Jackson Public Schools has hired one administrator for the price of two. A day after the school board selected Georgia education specialist Lonnie Edwards, on Aug. 10, Earl Watkins resigned as JPS superintendent. That same day, he was rehired as an independent contractor for an amount equivalent to all compensation and benefits he received for his old position.

An Aug. 19 JPS release said that the board “attempted to reach a compromise with Dr. Watkins that would be fair and humane, that would result in an added value benefit to the work of the district, and that would provide closure.” The statement acknowledged the board’s “legal constraints” concerning Watkins’ contract.

Susan Womack, director of Jackson Parents for Public Schools, said that paying Watkins as a consultant is the consequence of the school board’s accelerated hiring process.

“If there’s a beef to be had, it’s with the board and their decision to move this process along when the superintendent had a year remaining in his contract,” Womack said. “It should’ve been clear to folks, when the board was moving forward so rapidly and persistently with the search that this is what hiring a new superintendent in August, rather than next June, would mean.

“People who understand business understand that when a contract still has a year remaining … that existing superintendent’s contract has to be dealt with,” she said.

Watkins announced in April his intention to resign at the end of the 2008-2009 school year. At that point, the board began its search for a new superintendent. The initial search schedule set a hire date for the new superintendent anywhere between Aug. 1 and Dec. 31, but the board sped up its search process in July, narrowing the field of candidates to five and setting a revised hire date of Aug. 1. The board’s haste drew protests from some JPS parents who felt that the board was excluding input from the community.

JPS held community forums on Aug. 7 and 8 to give community members a chance to evaluate each candidate. At an executive session on Sunday, Aug. 10, the board selected Lonnie Edwards. That closed session violated open meeting laws, however, and the board had to meet again the next day for a public session, at which it repeated its decision to select Edwards.

Hiring Edwards so early put the board in the awkward position of having two superintendents. Watkins’ contract lasted through the 2008-2009 school year, and the last opportunity to not renew his contract had passed in February 2007. The board could not legally fire Watkins without evidence of wrongdoing. Watkins had been the subject of a 2007 sexual harassment suit, filed by former Chastain Middle School principal Michael Ellis. The suit was settled out of court with no admission of wrongdoing on the part of Dr. Watkins.

The superintendent dilemma seemed to resolve itself the day after Edwards’ selection, when Watkins submitted his resignation and the school board simultaneously rehired him as “Best Practices Master” for the district. Watkins’ new position requires him to produce “a comprehensive analysis of best practices” for JPS to ensure the district’s future accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

Watkins will also serve as a consultant for the transition of his responsibilities to Edwards. A JPS statement called the consulting position “a routine practice.” Several past superintendents, including Watkins’ predecessor Jayne Sargent, have provided consulting to the district after their terms. Board member Jonathan Larkin indicated, however, that the board’s decision to retain Watkins was not a foregone conclusion.

“If Dr. Watkins had elected to resign and just decided to move on, my assumption is the board would have accepted a resignation without offering a consulting contract,” Larkin said. “I know that his resignation and the consulting contract were basically effective the same time.”

Assuming he does not take a full-time job elsewhere, Watkins will receive a monthly payment of $18,181.82 through June 30, when his superintendent’s contract would have expired. The board calculated Watkins’ consulting salary by adding all compensation and benefits, including health insurance and an automobile allowance, owed to the former superintendent under his old contract, and converting it to a cash figure.

Mayor Frank Melton, who lobbied school board members to fire Watkins in 2007, expressed frustration at their decision to retain the former superintendent in his Aug. 21 State of the City address.

“We have a situation where an individual is going to be able to sit at home and make $18,000 a month,” Melton said. “I have a real problem with that.”

Board President Delmer Stamps and board attorney David Watkins negotiated the terms of Dr. Watkins’ contract. Stamps did not return calls for comment. Watkins would not comment.

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