SARASOTA, Fla. — Social media reaction to comments Sarasota School Board Chair Jane Goodwin made on the proposed update to Superintendent Todd Bowden’s contract Friday was nonstop over the weekend.
When we asked Goodwin, who wrote up the updated contract by herself, if she would seek input from the public, this was her response:
"No, no public input. There’s been too much public input since we chose this superintendent. There’s been too much politics at the table."
When we pointed out the superintendent’s salary is paid using taxpayer money?
“They have shared.”
When we pointed out the public hasn't seen the new contract?
“What purpose does that do for us?”
When reminded her it’s taxpayer money paying for his salary?
“So we should listen to them, and then what?”
On Friday, Goodwin added the new contract to Tuesday's board workshop agenda and she expects the board to vote on it.
The contract guarantees superintendent Todd Bowden an annual $5,000 pay raise for the next four years, topping his salary at $222,000.
But that’s not all. The contract also includes a new requirement calling for a “supermajority” vote to suspend or fire him.
Goodwin said she had the contract drafted on her own after two board members gave Bowden a negative evaluation last summer. claiming the school board is now too political.
But Pat Gardner, president of the Sarasota Classified Teachers Association, says it’s Goodwin who’s putting politics ahead of teachers and students.
“It’s not about student achievement it’s about, 'Let’s make sure our buddy has a job for four years,'" Gardner says. "There’s nothing in here about student achievement. He didn’t get the evaluation they wanted so they’re changing it. I wish I could do that for teachers,”
Goodwin admits she rushed the contract process because she wanted it resolved before the teachers’ contract negotiations start in March. Bowden has 16 months left on his current contract.
A teacher survey done over the weekend shows 97 percent of the 1,519 teachers who responded oppose the contract. Less than 1 percent said yes and 2 percent said they did not know.
The school board workshop is 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, followed by the regular school board meeting at 6 p.m. at the Landings.
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