Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 23, 1990 TAG: 9005230394
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MARGARET CAMLIN NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: DUBLIN LENGTH: Medium
After about two hours in executive session, the board voted for county attorney Thomas McCarthy and board member Ann Neighbors to negotiate with Burns and terminate his contract.
McCarthy did not want to comment about why the board needs to negotiate with the superintendent. Burns said the dealings concern the timing of his departure, the choice of an interim superintendent and contract matters.
The schools chief is breaking a four-year contract to accept the superintendent post in Muscogee County, Ga. The contract says he was to be superintendent through June 30, 1993.
Occasionally, laughter could be heard from the room where board members, Burns and McCarthy were meeting at New River Community College. Later, Burns remarked to a reporter, "You have to have a little humor to cope with the stress."
Burns said that accepting the Georgia job "is a wonderful opportunity personally and professionally for us, but it's very painful to leave Pulaski.
"We're letting some people down that don't deserve to be let down," he said. "I don't really want to do that."
After the meeting, Chairwoman Irene Kegley gave a reporter a torn sheet of paper from a yellow legal pad that read: "The board is very distressed that Dr. Burns intends to leave his position in Pulaski County and will begin negotiations with him on contract matters."
Neighbors was chosen to handle the negotiations because Kegley is recovering from surgery and Vice Chairman Ronald Chaffin is out of town for several days.
Burns plans to begin in July working in Muscogee - a system roughly five times larger than Pulaski's. His beginning salary will be $95,000.
Kegley said the board will conduct a nationwide search for a new superintendent.
Burns' contract says the board shall provide him a $9,500 tax sheltered annuity every year he serves as county superintendent.
When asked if the board would still provide the annuity, Kegley said this and other contract matters will be decided later.
"He's been a good boy and he's done a good job for us," Kegley said. "We want him to be happy, although we're working our butts off to replace him."
Burns reiterated that the decision was more personal than professional. "We didn't really realize how far we were going to be from our family," Burns said.
Both his father and his wife's mother, who live within hours of Columbus, have been seriously ill this year. Burns' father was school superintendent for more than 20 years in Mobile, Ala. His two daughters and a new grandchild live in Jacksonville, Fla.
Burns' Pulaksi County contract also gives him a $400 monthly car allowance and reimburses him at the state-approved rate per mile. Burns has used his private car for work.
His contract gives him 20 vacation days and an initial grant of 90 sick days, plus an additional sick day per month up to 140 days.
The contract also states the board would reimburse Burns for moving expenses last year. He came to Pulaski in July from Indian River County (Vero Beach), Fla., where he was superintendent for 10 years. The move cost the board $8,012.
Burns left the Florida system in April 1989 - nine months before his contract was to expire - when the Indian River County School Board bought out his contract.
by CNB