Santa Cruz County Grand jury questions PVUSD retirement incentives

Grand jury questions PVUSD retirement incentives
By DONNA JONES
Posted: 06/25/2009 01:30:46 AM PDT

WATSONVILLE -- A new grand jury report sharply questions a retirement incentive given to former Pajaro Valley Superintendent Mary Anne Mays who had already retired but was working as the district's interim superintendent.

The 2008-09 Santa Cruz County Grand Jury report is set to be released today at a press conference.

The report documents several investigations conducted during the last year, including an examination of alcohol use among Scotts Valley teens, special district operations and county government procedures.

In the case of the Pajaro Valley retirement incentive, jury foreman Clyde Vaughn said the inquiry concluded not that rules were broken but that no rules were in place to address what the jury called a "questionable allocation of public funds" by the Pajaro Valley Unified School District board of trustees in awarding the benefit to Mays, who is not mentioned by name in the report.

"Maybe the school board should have been more on top of the issues," Vaughn said, adding most telling to him was that the board approved the incentive plan for district managers three months before the consulting firm hired to analyze the deal's finances completed its report.

Mays received the incentive as part of an offering to a dozen managers designed to save the district money at a time of financial distress.

Under the Supplemental Employee Retirement Plan, or SERP, managers who were at least 55 years old, had worked in the district continuously for five years and were eligible to retire from the State Teacher Retirement System, STRS, would receive 95 percent of a year's pay over a period of years.

The board was told that 12 employees were eligible for the plan, but not given names.

Mays and Associate Superintendent Mary Hart put forth the proposal.

A consultant estimated the deal would net the district $159,000 in savings. But the jury's investigation concluded the district saved less than a third of that.

Mays had resigned as superintendent in 2006, and later retired from the teachers pension system. But she continued to work for the district on special assignment until March 2007, when she was named interim superintendent.

Mays said Wednesday the discussion shouldn't be about why she took the SERP but why she wouldn't have.

"I retired from the district. I retired from STRS, but I didn't retire from wanting to work and be an educator," Mays said.

"Basically, I met the SERP criteria. I was included and didn't see any reason why I shouldn't be included."

The jury, however, said offering a retirement incentive to an already retired administrator "is not common practice and verges on misuse."

Trustee Doug Keegan said in hindsight the board should be more vigilant in overseeing retirement plans. He said he's said he's grown increasingly skeptical about offering them. But of Mays, he said, "if she was eligible, I don't have a problem with that."

http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/localnews/ci_12685079?nclick_check=1