Auditor General DePasquale Questions Excessive Retirement Package in Upper Perkiomen School District

October 16 2013

Auditor General DePasquale Questions Excessive Retirement Package in Upper Perkiomen School District

HARRISBURG (Oct. 16, 2013) – Auditor General Eugene DePasquale said today that the former superintendent at the Upper Perkiomen School District, Montgomery County, received a very generous retirement package, which included $112,962 in unused sick and vacation days and $115,720 for future health coverage.

As part of a $228,682 retirement package, the Upper Perkiomen school board agreed to pay the former superintendent for 150 unused sick and vacation days and will continue to pay for health coverage for him and his spouse for six years.

The package was awarded in February 2012 following the superintendent’s retirement after seven years and is reported as an observation in the latest school district audit report that covered 2009 through 2012.

“This is the latest example of school boards bestowing superintendents with excessive contractual benefits rather than investing the money into classroom education,” DePasquale said.

“This very generous arrangement comes out of the pockets of taxpayers and at the expense of the students in the district. Deals like this divert money away from classrooms and school programs,” DePasquale said, noting that the school board approved several amendments to the superintendent’s contract as late as four month before retirement that provided significant improvements to an already generous payout.

The payout was over and above what the district paid to the Public School Employees’ Retirement System which guaranteed the former superintendent a state pension. At the time of his retirement, the former superintendent was earning more than $155,000 a year.

According to the payout, the former superintendent received:

• $67,500 for 90 unused sick days accrued at $750 per day and $45,462 for 60 unused vacation days accrued at $757.50 per day.
• $115,720 in health coverage for the former superintendent and his spouse for six years.

In response, school board members said the district complied with all applicable laws and questioned why the auditor general’s office was commenting on a negotiated benefit package.

“School boards should be thinking more about the taxpayers and students, rather than administrators,” DePasquale said. “This contract and the amendments approved by the board were not in the best interests of the taxpayers or students.”

The audit also found errors in the school district’s 2008-09 and 2009-10 reports to the Pennsylvania Department of Education resulting in a reimbursement overpayment of $22,143.

During the 2009-10 school year, the Upper Perkiomen School District provided basic education to 3,190 students and employed 227 teachers, 173 full- and part-time support personnel, and 22 administrators. The district received $14.4 million in state funding in the 2009-10 school year.

The Department of the Auditor General’s Bureau of School Audits examines the records of school districts, charter schools, intermediate units, and area vocational-technical schools. The audits — among other things — assess whether or not school entities received the state subsidies and reimbursements to which they were entitled, accurately managed taxpayer funds, and complied with ethics codes. The audits also determine whether or not teachers and administrators were properly certified for the positions they held during the audit period.

A full copy of the Upper Perkiomen School District audit report is online at:www.PaAuditor.gov/audit-reports.

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