The Bryan County Board of Education finalized the contract buy-out of former Superintendent Dr. Sallie Brewer after an hour-long executive session Thursday night.
Brewer was on hand to sign the agreement that provided a final contract amount of $253,063.28, which was arrived at from two categories - salary and accrued vacation.
According to the terms of the buyout, Brewer will be paid the salary portion of $185,935.44 in 16 monthly installments through the end of the 2009-2010 school year -- which is when Brewer’s contract was scheduled to end.
The monthly payments of $11,620.96 begin March 31. She will be paid in a lump sum of $67,127.84 for 118 unused vacation days on March 31 as well.
Brewer said Friday she invested 34 years in Bryan County Schools and it was her pleasure to work with the administrators, teachers, support staff, and parents to build what she called a "reputation without equal in our area."
"The more than $253,000 used to pay out my contract was certainly not paid at my request and would have been put to much better use to meet needs in our schools in this time of harsh budget cutbacks from the state," she said. "It would have paid for 16 parapro salaries - or seven teacher salaries - or four buses - or many truckloads of books and materials to enhance classroom instruction."Chairman Eddie Warren said the buyout is based on the terms of her contract and Brewer would have received the vacation pay either way.
But he said allowing the accrual of that much vacation time was a mistake that needs to be fixed.
"As long as I’m on the board, there will never be another contract that allows for the carryover of vacation pay," he said. "That should never have been there. That was a mistake that was made several years ago that this board will not make when they hire somebody else."
Brewer earned 20 days of vacation a year.
She was superintendent for seven years before the school board voted 4-3 in February to buy out her contract.
Assistant Superintendent John Oliver is acting as interim superintendent while the school board searches for a replacement.
Warren said the money for Brewer’s buyout will come from the school’s general fund. This year's general fund is $53.5 million, according to Melanie James, Bryan County Schools’ director of finance.