We were stunned to learn that the new majority of the board of the Del Mar Union School District passed a very costly negotiated resignation of Superintendent Tom Bishop. With direct and indirect expenses, this move will cost the district over $500,000 before a new superintendent is permanently in place. How dare this board majority vote to waste our scarce district tax dollars in such a careless fashion? With yet another state budget crisis upon us, how could they ever have thought this justified?
The newest board members waged a successful election campaign in 2006 based on “change.” The mantra was, “Change is needed. Change will be good for our schools. Change will be good for our children.” We can't imagine, however, that more than a handful of voters considered or would ever support such costly and wasteful change in our district.
If illegal or immoral acts had been committed by Superintendent Bishop, we are certain this board majority would have found a way to force an immediate resignation without compensation. That is, if there were evidence of any real wrong-doing, there would be no need for a costly resignation. Lacking any evidence of misconduct, the board majority proceeded to cast the illusion of impropriety through closed door meetings resulting in this costly agreement.
This tactic of creating an illusion of impropriety is resonant of that used during the election campaign. It is also the way this board has justified others “fixes” pushed upon the district since its election. Until now, we viewed this deceptive behavior as mostly distasteful politics, but probably not too harmful in the long run. But we never imagined that this board majority would have the gall to throw away so much money based on personal vendettas. What happened to the campaign themes of “more accountability to the community and parents” and “transparency” (Ref: 1)? This board has literally blind-sided this community with a huge expense with no justification.
It's time to stop this group. As the question was posed to Senator Joseph McCarthy in 1954, we also must ask this board majority loudly and clearly, “Have you no sense of decency?” It is obvious this board majority is more concerned about personal agendas than careful stewardship of our scarce resources. The board members that voted to pass this ludicrous resignation buy-out should stop now. Please tender your resignations and save us taxpayers the further cost of a recall election.
Bruce & Janet Kahn
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