DENAIR -- Trustees did not appoint an interim superintendent Thursday, leaving a closed-door session reporting they had taken no action and would meet again next Thursday.
Deputy Superintendent Judy Sylvester, head of the Denair Unified School District business office, has run the day-to-day administration since Superintendent Ed Parraz was put on paid leave last week.
Board member John Plett said Parraz's severance would be negotiated. Parraz earns $120,000 a year and conditions of his contract stipulate he must be paid through the remaining 15 months of his contract.
Parraz's departure opens the way for the district to resume negotiations with its teachers, which Parraz had declared at impasse earlier this month.
Denair Unified Teachers Association President Barry Cole said he and the union's lead negotiator, Kelly Beard, would meet with the board before its next meeting.
"Ed's departure helped tremendously, and some much-needed healing has already begun. We can now start looking and moving forward, and start discussing logical, long-term solutions to our crisis," Cole said before Thursday's meeting. "Dialog can be open and honest with the board now, and we are mutually interested in making the right decisions."
Denair Unified needs to nail down its labor costs for next year to make its case for county loans to survive the school year. A steady loss of enrollment without corresponding staff cuts had left Denair at risk of running out of money by school year's end.
Bee education reporter Nan Austin can be reached at naustin@modbee.com or (209) 578-2339, on Twitter, @NanAustin, www.modbee.com/education.
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