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Oct 15, 2008 5:35 pm US/Central
Lancaster Superintendent On Administrative Leave
Lancaster ISD Holding District-Wide Staff Meeting
LANCASTER (CBS 11 News) ―
Another North Texas school district is facing a financial fiasco, but unlike in the Dallas Independent School district, the superintendent there has been put on leave as a result.
Lancaster Independent School District officials made the decision during a meeting late Tuesday night, and a district-wide staff meeting was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.
The Lancaster ISD board of trustees voted 4-3 Tuesday night to place Superintendent Dr. Larry Lewis on paid administrative leave.
Following that meeting, LISD trustee Marie Elliott told The Dallas Morning News that the move was "a witch hunt" driven by board president Carolyn Morris.
On Wednesday afternoon before the 4:30 meeting, school district officials weren't saying much. But CBS 11 News sources say a possible topic at the meeting could be to let the associate superintendent take the reins for now.
All of the action follows an evaluation of the superintendent's performance. It's a performance that included a $1.5 million shortfall in the 2008 Lancaster ISD's $40.5 million budget.
While Lancaster officials wouldn't address the topic before the Wednesday meeting, CBS 11 News found many parents who had plenty to say.
"Yeah, he was doing a lot for the school," Lancaster parent Michael Roberson said. "But, I mean, if you lose money, you need to be punished for it."
"$1.5 million. Where does that go?" asked parent Michael McDuffie. "It just doesn't disappear; you know where it is. You probably need to fess up. I would think."
The district's attorney says Lewis, who is still being paid during the leave, just signed a three-year contract in March and makes $197,800 a year, but offered to take $10,000 pay cut.
"The board is the governing body of the school district and they will be the ones to decide employment issues related to Dr. Lewis," explained LISD legal counsel Rhonda Crass.
The district, under Dr. Larry Lewis' guidance, grabbed headlines for suspension of hundreds of students for failing to complete homework assignments over summer and holiday breaks. A failed 4-day school week was also Lewis' idea.
Lancaster ISD also has a financial conservator that was assigned by the Texas Education Agency. A nine-month TEA investigation found several problems in the district's finances.
The school board has scheduled another meeting about the superintendent for Saturday.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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