Ousted Amherst Superintendent to be paid through May

By Nick Grabbe and Owen Boss

Staff Writers

AMHERST - Former Superintendent of Schools Alberto Rodriguez, who left the position on Monday, will be paid his $158,000 annual salary through May.

Farshid Hajir, chairman of the Regional School Committee, has declined to disclose the terms of the financial settlement, citing advice from the committee's attorney. A source close to the parties involved, who chose to remain anonymous, provided the information to the Gazette.

The dollar value of the settlement is approximately $36,000, plus the cost of continuing Rodriguez's health care coverage.

Attempts to reach Hajir and Amherst School Commitee Chairman Andy Churchill were unsuccessful Wednesday evening.

Rodriguez, 49, had lived in Miami for most of his life, working as a history teacher, principal and assistant superintendent; his wife and two daughters still live there and he reportedly spent much time in Florida over the last eight months. He had used up his 25 days of vacation time by February.

When Rodriguez arrived in Amherst last July, he was the fifth person to lead the school system in slightly over a year. His hiring provoked controversy even before he started, because of his $158,000 salary, plus $10,000 for housing and $5,000 for travel expenses. Jere Hochman, who held the post from 2003 to 2008, was hired at a salary of $130,000 and made $134,583 when he left to become superintendent of the Bedford Central School District in Westchester County, N.Y.

Last Friday, Rodriguez met at his office with Hajir and Churchill to discuss allegations contained in a 65-page evaluation composed by school staff that was read by members of the Regional School Committee. The contents of these evaluations have not been released and a request for copies has been submitted.

Monday night, Rodriguez went to the Regional Middle School and signed a joint statement with the chairmen of the Regional, Amherst and Union 26 School Committees.

The statement read: "After the committees' and Dr. Rodriguez's receipt of the survey results from employees, particularly the feedback from a majority of senior administrative personnel who report to Dr. Rodriguez, the committees and Dr. Rodriguez agreed that it was in the best interests of all parties for Dr. Rodriguez to leave his position as superintendent of the districts."

On Tuesday, at a meeting that was scheduled for an evaluation of Rodriguez, the combined Amherst, Regional and Pelham school committees voted 6-4 not to conduct an immediate search for Rodriguez's replacement, instead choosing to name Maria Geryk interim superintendent for the next 16 months.

The upheaval in the superintendent's position occurred just two weeks before town voters go to the polls to decide the fate of a tax override, which will have a large impact on next year's school budget. It also came just a week before teachers are scheduled to vote on a proposal to give up some salary increases provided to them by their union contract.