School Chief to Receive More Than $50,000 in Retirement Deal with Board

Shorewood Superintendent Blane McCann has accepted a severance package worth at least $52,000 in accordance with his retirement this summer, according to a separation agreement with the school district.

July 10. After some parents and residents heard the news, they crowded a School Board meeting the following day and , but rather some members of the School Board pushed him out.

McCann has maintained it is time for him to “move forward,” and School Board members insist the allegations are false and that McCann's choice to retire was his own.

Under the agreement, which is also attached above, McCann will receive the following benefits and pay:

• Ten weeks of pay at his current salary, starting on July 27, totaling $29,278. That's one week of pay for every year of service to the district.

• McCann will receive $585 for each day of unused vacation time. McCann currently has 18 days of unused time, and accrues 25 days of vacation annually. The 18 days are worth more than $10,000.

• A one-time, non-election payment of $8,198 to McCann’s tax-sheltered annuity, equal to 14 days of salary.

• The district will continue to offer McCann health care insurance, under his current terms, which is he pay 12.6 percent to the cost of the premium, until he either finds other employment which offers health care insurance, or he becomes eligible for Medicare. McCann will turn 55 years old in July and could receive 10 years of health care benefits until he is eligible for Medicare at 65. The district health care insurance plan's premium is $20,792 annually; Shorewood pays $18,172 of that total amount.

• McCann won’t be required to pay back the $4,000 he owes the district for a housing expense loan.

Shorewood School Board President Paul Zovic said most of the benefits and pay McCann will receive under the agreement were outlined in his current contract, which was renewed in Feb. 2011 and was good through the 2012-13 school years.

District starts search for new superintendent

School officials mulled proposals from six recruiters at a special board meeting Tuesday night. Zovic said the board could hire a firm as early as Jan. 24, its next regular meeting.

Zovic said the district would use a similar process it used when it searched and subsequently hired McCann about a decade ago.

The firm they select will work with the district to create a profile of an ideal candidate to fill McCann’s shoes. Then, the firm will conduct a nation-wide search; screen candidates and finally, the board will conduct interviews with prospects.

The process is expected to take 12-20 weeks, Zovic said, and officials plan to have a candidate identified and a contract finalized by summer. The timing would allow Shorewood’s new superintendent an opportunity to work with McCann and learn more about the school district before the following school year.

Zovic said the search for a new superintendent will be an open process.

“We are hoping for a very open process, with not only the board involved but also parents, non-parent residents, as well as teachers and other staff,” Zovic said.