Lancaster ISD superintendent buyout could drain district reserves

The financial outlook for Lancaster ISD will be grim if a $2 million superintendent buyout moves forward.

Should the district pay out former Superintendent Elijah Granger, LISD will have to take $2.24 million from its fund balance, wiping out the majority of its savings.

“It is going to reduce our projected fund balance to virtually nothing,” chief financial officer Shonna Pumphrey said at a board meeting Thursday night. “And that’s provided all of our revenue projections hold.”

That’s also before the state docks an estimated $1.8 million from the district for such a large buyout.

However, the buyout’s future is uncertain after a judge temporarily halted the payment Thursday afternoon. The judge granted the request of three trustees – Marion Hamilton, Carolyn Ann Morris, and Ty G Jones –– who voted against the buyout agreement and sought a temporary restraining order to stop the payout

The district is temporarily enjoined from paying Granger any money related to his Nov. 9 buyout, and the three trustees will make further arguments for an injunction on Dec. 2, according to the order.

Granger’s annual salary was set at $315,000 in a contract approved Oct. 29, and the buyout agreement offered the departing superintendent more than $2 million to end his employment.

A buyout agreement that exceeds the value of one year’s salary and benefits triggers stiff financial penalties from the state. The state’s reduction in funding would likely come next school year, Pumphrey said.

At the board meeting Thursday night, the three trustees who won the order and newly elected trustee Kendall Smith voted to table a proposed $2.24 million budget amendment until December.

The other three trustees — La Rhonda Mays, Rhonda Davis, and LaShonjia Harris — voted against delaying the budget amendment. All three also voted in favor of the buyout.

Had trustees approved the amendment, the district would be facing economic constraints.

“In August, we budgeted fairly conservatively to allow the district some cushion in the event of unforeseen activities in the midst of the pandemic,” Pumphrey said. “So this particular amendment would virtually clear out any of the reserves and things that we had left for ourselves.”

The $2.24 million transfer would leave about $629,000 left in Lancaster’s fund balance, she said. Pumphrey didn’t know how long it would take the school district to rebuild the funds in the district’s fund balance if depleted. She pointed out that the upcoming legislative session also creates uncertainty about the future of state funding.

The board meeting indicated that a new board majority is forming with the election of Smith. In this month’s election, he beat out Ellen Clark, who was the pivotal fourth vote to approve Granger’s buyout agreement.

Before the board meeting ended, Morris requested an item be added to the next meeting’s agenda: a vote to censor Mays, Davis, and Harris. Morris did not elaborate on her reasons for the request and the board adjourned quickly after.