KHOU-11 is reporting that ChevronTexaco is donating $1 million toward HISD’s high school dropout prevention efforts:
ChevronTexaco will help increase the number of Houston students graduating from high school with a $500,000 donation to HISD and a $500,000 donation to the Houston Area Urban League.
[snip]
The ChevronTexaco donation will support the HISD’s work to prevent kids from dropping out of school.
HISD launched its effort to focus public attention on the dropout issue, called “expectation: GRADUATION”, last May when it convened a citywide summit on graduation and dropouts.
And in today’s Chronicle, Jason Spencer has the details of superintendent-to-be Abe Saavedra’s contract:
But typical, by Houston Independent School District standards, means a base annual salary approaching $300,000, plus perks and a $25,000 performance bonus that could put the total package value somewhere near $400,000.
Such a contract would make Saavedra one of the nation’s highest-paid school administrators, although others have taken sweeter deals. The new superintendent in Miami, for instance, was promised nearly a quarter-million dollars for a new house.
Luxurious deals usually come about when a handful of districts are bidding for the same candidate, said Robert Houston, executive director of the American Association of School Administrators. While that’s not the case in Houston, Saavedra is still in a good bargaining position because the school board didn’t name any other finalists.
Saavedra, an HISD administrator since 2001, knows trustees would be embarrassed to lose him and have to start another search, Houston said.
[snip]
Stripling’s contract was stacked with extras that Saavedra also expects, Martinez said. HISD gave Stripling a $1,000 monthly car allowance, hired a personal assistant for her at a cost of nearly $10,000 a year, reimbursed her $19,000 annual retirement contribution and gave her $18,000 to offset the federal income tax she paid for all those perks. She charged an average of $1,000 a month on her district-issued credit card for meals, gasoline, a Houstonian Club membership and travel, according to records provided by HISD.
We covered the HISD superintendent “search” previously, and are not surprised that the school board’s actions have placed Saavedra in a strong bargaining position.
