“Job Created By School District Raises Questions”

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Job Created By School District Raises Questions Posted: 26 Jul 2010 07:52 PM PDT Related To Story POSTED: 7:40 pm PDT July 26, 2010 UPDATED: 8:54 pm PDT July 26, 2010 SAN DIEGO -- A new position being created by the San Diego Unified School District in the midst of a budget crisis has many questioning the timing and the person hired to fill the role.10News learned the school district has created a new $85,000 job, and may be giving it to someone who worked on a school board member's campaign.When 10News began asking questions about the Reading Corps Volunteer Program Coordinator position and the woman whose name was posted on the district's website, the item got pulled from the school board's agenda. The agenda item recommended the volunteer program be established for the 2010-2011 school year and that a coordinator be hired. Posted right next to the action item on the board's agenda was the resume of Carol Hunter and a contract for the coordinator position with her name on it."That's outrageous," said parent Sally Smith. "We've laid off custodians, librarians, and now they have $85,000 for this position?"Smith, a self-appointed watchdog for school spending, said hiring a reading coordinator to manage volunteers help kids to read duplicates efforts already in place in the district. Smith also has problems with the district's apparent choice to lead the program because of her link to the board vice-president."Carol Hunter worked on John Lee Evans' campaign," said Smith. "Now she's gonna get a job out of this? Something's not right."John Lee Evans told 10News, "I've never had any conversations with anyone about who would be hired."He said he's surprised anyone's name was posted on the website because the reading volunteer program hasn't even been approved by the board yet.Of Hunter he said, "I never floated her name."Both Evans and San Diego School Board President Richard Barrera said in most cases the board has to vote to create the position and then allow people to apply before a contract is offered.District spokesman Jack Brandais said because the position is a consulting job, the normal hiring rules don't always apply."For taxpayers, the benefit is as a consultant they are not receiving benefits. There's no retirement pay, that type of thing," said Brandais, who added that the district's hiring freeze ended July 1.10News contacted Hunter, who said she's not comfortable talking about a job that she hasn't been promised. She was surprised to learn a contract was posted online with her name on it.After 10News raised questions about the handling of this contract, SDUSD Superintendent Bill Kowba pulled the entire Reading Corps Volunteer Program off the July 27 agenda. Copyright 2010 by 10News.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The following are comments from our users. Opinions expressed are neither created nor endorsed by 10News.com. By posting a comment you agree to accept our Terms of Use. Comments are moderated by the community. To report an offensive or otherwise inappropriate comment, click the "Flag" link that appears beneath that comment. Comments that are flagged by a set number of users will be automatically removed. Five Filters featured article: "Peace Envoy" Blair Gets an Easy Ride in the Independent. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

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