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MIDDLETOWN — The Board of Education agreed unanimously Wednesday to allow Superintendent Karen Bilbao to leave the district 60 days earlier than her contract allows.
Bilbao, 58, is set to retire on Feb. 1. She gave notice on Dec. 1, requesting that the board override a contractual requirement of 120 days notice.
Bilbao, whose salary is $190,835, has been superintendent since 2008. She served as interim superintendent from 2006 to 2008.
"I enjoyed it immensely, even the board meetings," said Bilbao, who thanked those who upheld her positions over the years. "A superintendent can only be as effective as the board that supports her recommendations."
According to her contract, Bilbao can be paid about $795.15 a day for no more than 40 unused vacation days, and can be paid $80 a day, up to $10,000, for unused sick days.
Despite voting for Bilbao's retirement, board member Joan Minnuies said the superintendent should have remained in her position for 120 days after giving notice.
"We have no one in the district who has put this budget together before," Minnuies said. "I'm concerned about that."
Board member Vincent Brand acknowledged he and Bilbao did not work well together, but still praised her work ethic.
"The woman worked very hard," Brand said. "I wish you the very best."
MIDDLETOWN — The Board of Education agreed unanimously Wednesday to allow Superintendent Karen Bilbao to leave the district 60 days earlier than her contract allows.
Bilbao, 58, is set to retire on Feb. 1. She gave notice on Dec. 1, requesting that the board override a contractual requirement of 120 days notice.
Bilbao, whose salary is $190,835, has been superintendent since 2008. She served as interim superintendent from 2006 to 2008.
"I enjoyed it immensely, even the board meetings," said Bilbao, who thanked those who upheld her positions over the years. "A superintendent can only be as effective as the board that supports her recommendations."
According to her contract, Bilbao can be paid about $795.15 a day for no more than 40 unused vacation days, and can be paid $80 a day, up to $10,000, for unused sick days.
Despite voting for Bilbao's retirement, board member Joan Minnuies said the superintendent should have remained in her position for 120 days after giving notice.
"We have no one in the district who has put this budget together before," Minnuies said. "I'm concerned about that."
Board member Vincent Brand acknowledged he and Bilbao did not work well together, but still praised her work ethic.
"The woman worked very hard," Brand said. "I wish you the very best."
7 comments:
I don’t think the calculations for personal days and sick leave is accurate. According to my reading of her contract here:
http://www.njtaxes.org/docs/govdocs/MiddletownSuperintendent.pdf
At the end of the school year unused personal days are converted into sick days. If the superintendent terminates her contract early, (with board approval), she will not be compensated for her accumulated sick days.
It looks to me that she will not get paid for any sick days and will only be paid for unused personal days in the current school year.
What is with Joan Minnuies? Does she ever vote for what she believes is the right thing to do? I guess we should be happy that she cast a vote at all instead of abstaining as she usually does. Normally she votes no for things she is in favor of because of some unrelated issue. She votes no because she didn’t approve of the process used to arrive at a decision with which she agrees. The vote isn’t about the process, it’s about the issue. This is another example, of that same thought process. She voted yes to let the super out of her contract early even though she believed it was the wrong thing to do. Then why vote yes? It’s baffling.
Anon 11:10
You could be right because by leaving early she is "leaving some money on the table" as they say.
That's a good follow-up question for the next board meeting.
Anon 11:30
I have heard from others that Minnuies has higher aspirations other than the school board and after witnessing her myself after several Township Committee meetings in the past, I don't doubt it.
I have often seen her wait around after TC meetings to speak with Pam Brightbill and others, I can only imagine what they talk about.
So maybe she does her best to try and vote they way that others have talked to her about on certain issues and maybe that is why her voting record seems to conflict with what she perceives to be the real issues.
Mike,
Maybe that's exactly the questionable conduct and pending ethical problem with a BOE member?
We have enough"characters" on the TC
which is becoming a society of fools....
I don't get Joan Minnuies either and have lost a lot of respect for her.
She seems to have contradicted everything the BOE has worked for since she's been a member. Aligning herself with the new members and voting against issues she used to support. Her agenda is to become president again.
I find it ironic that she's been anti Karen Bilbao, and now that Karen is leaving she's concerned with who is going to do the budget.
Well maybe she should have thought of that sooner and showed a little support for Bilbao.
Middletown residents have short memories when it comes to past superintendents.
Until Bilbao came on board the district was a mess. She will be sorely missed when she's gone.
Minnues and "BAM" seem perfect together...and be damned "for the children".
Back to Basics" all over again!
Just wait ans see that group isn't gone yet and is still rumbling and rattling around town hall!
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