The superintendent of Burlington schools as well as the district’s finance director will step down June 30 after an audit uncovered major budget problems within the district.
An agreement approved by Burlington’s school board Tuesday outlines the conditions of Superintendent Jeanne Collins’ departure, which provides a $225,000 severance package to be paid out in two installments between July and next January. Collins will also keep her district-provided iPad, laptop and cell phone.
According to a WPTZ report, the district’s finance director, David Larcombe, announced his resignation in a letter, published by WPTZ, on Wednesday after less than a year on the job.
“In recent years I have often seen the Director of Finance position in Burlington open, and decided not to apply because it didn’t seem to be a good fit for me,” he wrote. He changed his mind after working as budget director and took on his current role July 1, 2013.
Larcombe wrote that “in recent months I have witnessed the School Board and City government going in a direction that I believe represents serious risk (my opinion, I recognize) and adopting a manner that is less than collaborative,” he wrote.
Larcombe wasn’t immediately available for comment Wednesday.
The moves come as the Burlington School Board is working to convince voters to approve a school budget higher than the one that failed on Town Meeting Day. The new budget, the board says, will fix some long-standing financial problems in the school district, including major budgeting errors and a $500,000 in fees reportedly owed to the Internal Revenue Service.
Collins’ resignation follows public calls for her to step down from Mayor Miro Weinberger and a number of Burlington city councilors who blame her for the financial mismanagement of the school district.
The agreement doesn’t state the reasons for her resignation and it forbids either the school board or Collins from saying anything “that impugns the reputation or integrity” of the other, regardless of its truth.
Collins agreed to make herself available in a consulting capacity in the event of any threatened or actual lawsuits the district might face until next February for up to 60 hours. After 60 hours, the school district agreed to pay $100 per hour for the services.
