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By Lynn Hotaling
Local school officials have ended negotiations with former Superintendent
Mack McCary and agreed Friday (Nov. 21) to pay him the entire
amount he is owed under the terms of his contract.
"Negotiations fell through and needed to come to a halt,"
said Vice Chairman Ali Laird-Large, who presided in the absence
of Chairman James Roper.
After a 30-minute closed session, the three board members present
- Laird-Large, Ken Henke and Nathan Moss (Roper and Mary Jane
Dillard were out of town Friday) - first voted unanimously to
rescind a Nov. 14 motion to negotiate McCary's contract buy out
and then voted, also in unison, to pay the former superintendent
the full amount he is owed, $139,304.92, on Wednesday, Nov. 25.
"We will honor the terms of his contract," Laird-Large
said.
The $139,304.92 represents the salary owed McCary for the period
of Nov. 15 through January 31,2005, said David Steinbicker, school
system finance officer. The former superintendent will receive
that amount less mandatory withholdings, Steinbicker said.
Including mandatory employer taxes the school system must pay,
the entire amount to be withdrawn from fund balance in connection
with McCary's contract buy out will be $141,326, Steinbicker said.
Citing a " lack of leadership," all five members of
the Jackson County Board of Education voted Nov. 14 to purchase
the remaining months of McCary's contract. At that time school
leaders agreed the timing of McCary's compensation would be determined
through negotiations between the former superintendent and Steinbicker.
McCary, who began his duties with Jackson County Schools in February
2001, was named superintendent after a lengthy selection process.
The position was advertised for the second time after school board
members were unable to settle on a superintendent from six candidates
- a field that included local administrators Arlin Middleton,
Lib Balcerek and Sue Nations - interviewed in August 2000.
McCary was among candidates interviewed after Superintendent Gary
Steppe of Cherokee County declined the job in October 2000.
A graduate of both Yale and Harvard, McCary began his educational
career as a first-grade teacher. He was serving as assistant superintendent
for instructional services for Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Schools
when he was tapped for the Jackson County job.
School officials designated Assistant Superintendent Nations,
a former assistant principal at Smoky Mountain High and principal
at Fairview Elementary for nine years, as acting superintendent
and expressed confidence in her ability to perform her new duties.
"She knows our school system and its personnel, and I feel
she'll do a great job," Roper said Nov. 14.
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