Clara Unified School Sep 2 12009 Don Kawashima, Foreperson District David H.yama

Boards of Trustees approve overly generous benefits which include the following: Fully paid health benefits for trustees and theirfamilies; Excessive travel and conference costs; Pension contribution. The Board of Trustees in the SCUSDreceives the same benefit package asdo teacher bargaining unit members. Medical benefits are capped at $725.90 per month; the premium for maximum coverage of $2000 per year isfully paid for dental care; and, a family vision care plan with a$15 deductible ispaid for by the district. No pension payments are made for Board members, Board members have been allotted attendance at one conference per year which required out of district, but within the state, travel. Not every Board member attends the conference, and for the 2009-2010 school year, the number of Board members attending the CSBAannual conference has been limited to three. Findings 2and 3: Boards of Trustees are approving overly generous benefits to Superintendents. Superintendent salaries and increases appear to be no relationship to the number of schools, students and employees they oversee. BOARD OF EDUCATION I:'oJAK.BEr-;l)l~ D(lN BORDENAVE 1I~1(,-\'.:0\.\ ELl~El)cYOUH, "The mission of Santa Clara Unified School District is to prepare students PATFLOT of aUages and abilities to succeed in an ever~changing world." ,.\LBERTl;UNZALEZ ANDREW RATERMANN The SCUSDSuperintendent does not receive an auto allowance, a housing allowance, amortgage assistance loan of any kind, aguaranteed annual salary increase, a longevity bonus, a performance bonus, per diem expenses while out of district, any professional membership or subscription allowances, a pension allowance other than hisand the district's mutual contribution to STRS,lifetime medical benefits, or an annual district-paid medical physical. The average enrollment for school districts in Santa ClaraCounty is7,962. SCUSD'sis14,151. The average total compensation for superintendents in the County is$206,076. The SCUSDsuperintendent's total compensation is$192,726. The average total cost per student for asuperintendent's compensation in the County is$25.88. Forthe SCUSDsuperintendent, it is$13.62. Only two districts in the County have more schools than SCUSD,and only three districts serve more K-12 students.

Boards of Trustees hire costly search firms torecruit successors for retiring ordismissed Superintendents. The current Superintendent in SCUSDis in his second year of serving in the position. The previous Superintendent served for three years, and the Superintendent before that served for ten years. The current and former superintendents were hired from within, without outside searches or search consultants. The ten-year superintendent formerly served asan assistant superintendent in the county.

Boards of Trustees approve the hiring of multiple private attorneys, insome cases at tremendous expense. For routine matters and general counsel, SCUSDrelies on the expertise and legal advice of County Counsel. Forsome of the complexities of special education, negotiations with newly authorized bargaining units" lay-ofts, property acquisition, and contact breaches, outside attorneys have been employed. Final Word: Student safety and student achievement remain the stated and primary goals of the SCUSD. Fiscal responsibility follows closely behind those two. We believe that we have met our obligations and without hesitation respond that the beneficiaries remain our students, their families and our taxpayers. Sincerely, Pat Flot, President ofthe Board of Trustees Steve Stavis, Superintendent