COSTA MESA, Calif. (KNX) — The Orange County Board of Education has voted to cut the superintendent’s annual salary by 13.7% beginning in July, a reduction of nearly $48,000.
In a 4-to-1 vote Wednesday, board members approved the reduction of Superintendent Al Mijares’ base pay from $347,625 to $300,000, impacting a 10% stipend given to district employees with more than 30 years of educational experience.
With that 10% stipend tacked on, Mijares currently makes $382,387 a year. If he is reelected in June, he would make $330,000.
Mijares is the highest paid county superintendent in California, the board's attorney's findings revealed, second only to the Santa Clara County Unified superintendent who earned $352,827 in 2020.
“The California constitution gives all county boards the authority to set their county superintendents’ salary. However, when talking with fellow county board members, very few understood they had the constitutional responsibility,” Board President Mari Barke wrote in a press release.
Critics of the move have pointed out the long-standing conflict between the board and Mijares and have inquired whether the pay cut was retaliatory. In 2019, the board filed a lawsuit against Mijares seeking more control over the education department’s budget. More recently, the board’s majority has opposed face-mask and COVID-19 mandates in schools that state law has required Mijares to impose.
Beckie Gomez, the only board member to vote against the pay cut, questioned its rationale at Wednesday’s meeting.
“I need to understand what the goal is,” Gomez said. “If we are looking at cost savings, we probably need to look at some of the attorney fees that we’re paying. And some of the lawsuits that we’ve got going.”
Last year alone, the board’s lawsuits against Mijares, Gov. Newsom, and a county committee cost taxpayers $3.2 million. Since January of this year, the board has approved spending $136,293 in additional attorney fees, according to board agendas and minutes.
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