I too work have worked for the district for quite a number of years and may have enough seniority to overcome the next round of cutbacks, but I do have concern for some capable colleagues who have less seniority.
Having said all that I also want to add that I have an acquaintance that works in educational HR and is familiar with contract law and procedures. This acquaintance was good enough to point out a few working points that may be helpful here.
First, if Mr Mercer decided to leave of his own accord then he would not be in a position to receive a severance or payout. He also would be guilty of some incompetence or indiscretion to have caused this to happen. Also if he did depart and if he were not to retire he would would be placing himself in a very poor position for re-employment. There is considerable professional stigma attached to leaving a position mid-year. If he did all this then he gets all that he deserves and rightly so for abandoning our students at such a bad time.
Second, if Mr Mercer did not leave of his own accord then he would be entitled to a severance package, probably equal to 12 months salary plus benefits. Hearing that his salary was around $110,000, then I would say his payout would be somewhere around $130,000 (a guess at best). If he did receive a payout then he was terminated without cause. If he did receive a payout then he cannot work in BC for the period equal to the term of this payout. Any of this can be found out through a FOI request.
Third, all very fine until you look at this in total costs. Let’s assume Mr Mercer did receive a payout in the amount I suggested above. Factor this money plus the salary of the temporary superintendent and the costs of hiring a third permanent superintendent - let’s, for the sake of argument say this comes to slightly over $200,000. And all this money spent without a reason given for termination.
Fourth, let’s not forget that the district is about to go into budget talks. With declining enrollments there will be less money coming into the district which usually means fewer jobs. Add this extra financial burden and it’s quite easy to see that even more jobs will be lost than was probably going to happen. How many jobs could have been saved if the Board were to have waited on this? This, in my opinion, is wrong, and stupid and there should be questions and answers provided explaining why the Board would do this to the students and staff.
Finally, it has been suggested by some that, “What’s done, is done.” Well, I cannot agree when perhaps me, and certainly some of my friends and colleagues will now loose their jobs as a result of this, and forgive me for being crass, idiotic decision made by our Board. Why shouldn’t they be answerable?
Don’t let this go without asking these important questions because it’s not just about Mr Mercer, it’s about our students and those of us will and who hope to remain.
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