EXITING CBE BOSS GETS $800,000
Top superintendent’s payout includes $100,000 of unused vacation
The Calgary Board of Education’s soon-to-be former chief superintendent will pocket more than $500,000 for vacation and benefits accumulated over 42 years.
That $ 504,875 is on top of $ 295,000, or one year’s salary, David Stevenson is being paid as retirement allowance after he announced he would be stepping down last October, despite having more than 18 months left on his five-year contract with the CBE.
While a taxpayer advocate group voiced alarm over the amount, CBE spokeswoman Megan Geyer said Stevenson is en- titled to the money under a 2014 contract when he took the top job, including $100,000 in earned, unused vacation pay and $400,000 in retirement benefits.
“This includes vacation time earned but not used over decades, as well as retroactive changes made by the board of trustees to the retirement benefit plan for superintendents,” Geyer said in a statement, adding those changes were made to be competitive.
“These changes were made to be more consistent with other executive- level employee pension plans across the province.”
That contract states that no more than 10 unused vacation days can be “banked” each year.
Geyer said the board is committed to being transparent about its remuneration because “the public has an interest in the way public dollars are spent.”
Those sums seem excessive given taxpayers are on the hook for them, said Colin Craig, Alberta spokesman for the Canadian Taxpayers’ Federation.
“It’s not what most people get, especially when they resign — it’s something elected officials should put a stop to,” he said.
“It’s nice if you’re that individual, not so great for taxpayers.”
Stevenson’s predecessor, Naomi Johnson, was also offered the same one-year salary allowance upon stepping down early.
At the same time, the CBE has said it has worked hard to find efficiencies to ensure its classrooms are properly funded and staffed, with some parents voicing concerns over a lack of resources for special needs students.
While the optics of the payouts aren’t great, the allowance, vacation and pension deals aren’t outrageous compared to those offered top executives in the private sector, said Arden Dalik, an executive compensation expert with Global Governance Advisors.
“It’s not ringing major alarm bells even though the lump sum does have sticker shock value,” she said.
“I wouldn’t want the cheapest person, but also not the highestpaid one, either.”
Like other senior executives, those amounts are meant to allow them to retire to a lifestyle their salary had established, said Dalik.
Geyer said Stevenson won’t re- ceive any one-time payout on the pension benefits and could burn up some of that vacation pay by taking time off before he leaves in the spring.
Following concerns over higher transportation costs for some families following changes to school transportation routes last year, the province is currently conducting an operational review of CBE finances.
But a spokesman for Alberta Education said that review won’t include Stevenson’s remuneration.
“It’s a contract between the CBE and a former chief superintendent,” said Gregory Jack.