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Board delays vote on proposed amendment to school board attorney contract; schedules workshop with conflict counsel
Summary
After extended discussion July 29 about amendments to the board attorney’s contract — including a requested salary adjustment and a 20‑week severance provision — the board agreed to withdraw the action item from tonight’s agenda and to workshop the contract on Aug. 5 with conflict counsel present.
The school board held an extended discussion July 29 about a proposed amendment to the school board attorney’s contract that staff had placed on the agenda for possible action. The proposed changes described in the workshop included an adjusted annual salary figure and a severance provision; School Board Chair Samuel Fisher said the requested severance amount was 20 weeks of base pay and that a salary adjustment to $212,000 was on the table in the negotiation summary presented to the board.
Kathy Dupree Bruno, the board attorney, described contractual renewal language already in place and said the board and she have procedures that allow renegotiation prior to April 15 in the year a contract would otherwise renew. She also said discussions about a comprehensive contract review would continue prior to April 2026, and signaled she was open to an addendum or a full contract review.
Board members expressed differing preferences. Some members supported immediate amendment and compensation adjustment; others argued the board should follow the contract review timelines and conduct a fuller renegotiation rather than approve piecemeal amendments. Concerns included process, precedent and timing relative to other personnel changes the district is considering (the superintendent said a staff attorney search is underway and would be brought back when the advertisement closes).
After discussion the board reached consensus to withdraw the item from tonight’s action agenda, schedule a workshop on Aug. 5 to discuss the contract language and to have conflict counsel available for that workshop. The superintendent and staff agreed to schedule the workshop and to arrange for conflict counsel to be present. The item will return to a future action meeting (board staff indicated Aug. 5 as the workshop date and the potential for a subsequent action item).
Ending: No amendment was approved at the workshop; the board directed staff to workshop the proposed amendment with conflict counsel present and to bring a negotiated contract back for board consideration at a later meeting.
