The incoming superintendent of Atlanta Public Schools will be paid $375,000 annually, along with a $2,000 monthly allowance, according to a report in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The district will also cover Meria Carstarphen’s moving expenses from Austin, Texas, where she served as the superintendent of schools, according to the 20-page contract the Atlanta Journal-Constitution obtained through an open records request.
The employment contract, dated April 15, runs from July 7 through June 30, 2017, and guarantees Carstarphen an annual raise of no less than 2 percent.
Among other benefits outlined in the agreement:
- The district will contribute the equivalent of 10 percent of Carstarphen’s salary to a retirement savings account, in addition to paying her contributions to the Teachers’ Retirement System of Georgia
- Payment for up to six months of temporary housing for Carstarphen and her immediate family
- Payment for a home office, including the purchase of a desktop computer, laptop, cellphone, and costs associated with maintaining those services
- An insurance stipend that would cover out-of-pocket premiums for medical expenses.
A copy of the contract can be found here, courtesy the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Carstarphen replaces Erroll B. Davis Jr., who took over the 50,000-student school system in 2011. She comes to a district still reverberating from the effects of a cheating scandal and as the former Superintendent Beverly Hall is about to stand trial on charges of racketeering, theft, and false testimony in connection with the scandal.
Hall and 34 other educators were indicted last year for their alleged roles in inflating students’ scores on standardized tests. Twenty-one of those implicated have struck plea deals; Hall is among those who have pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Jury selection in Hall’s trial was scheduled to begin in late April, but earlier this month, her lawyers asked Fulton County Superior Court Judge Jerry Baxter to postpone the proceedings because of their client’s failing health.
The trial is now expected to begin in August.