I find it unconscionable that Vancouver Public Schools would pay the now former Superintendent Steve Webb $455,000 and not disclose the reason for doing so. The amount paid to Webb by the board is incredible and at an average salary in the Vancouver Public Schools of $60,994 per teacher. That money represents funding for over seven teachers or other programs that could have benefited the students.
What concerns me is the fact that Webb was put on administrative leave prior to the payout taking place. What potential liabilities for the district were left behind by Webb’s actions?
With school board President Kyle Sproul declining to comment, I guess we will never know what happened. What Sproul forgets is that she is spending public money, our money, and we have the absolute right to know why. Transparency by officials in these positions is critical if we are to ever trust them. So much for transparency in Sproul’s case.
The district comes to all of us periodically asking for more money to theoretically fund and make our schools better. Most of us are happy to give. The next time they come hat in hand my first question might be, why did you have to pay out close to half a million dollars without explanation?
