School board boosts acting supt.’s pay

Editor’s note: This corrects the amount Supt. Jeffrey Hubbard is receiving per month while he is on leave.

COSTA MESA — The school board has decided to make acting Supt. Paul Reed’s temporary position more official and increase his salary by about $5,260 a month.

The Newport-Mesa Unified trustees unanimously voted Tuesday night to empower Reed with the full responsibility and authority of the superintendent.

An addendum to Reed’s contract, which increases his salary to be on par with the position, was approved 5 to 1 with Trustee Katrina Foley dissenting.

“I think Dr. Reed deserves the additional amount — it’s not an issue with that,” she said. “I did not support paid leave with Hubbard because it’s for personal reasons.”

Reed, the deputy superintendent and chief business official, has been filling in as superintendent since Jan. 24, when Supt. Jeffrey Hubbard was put on paid administrative leave. Hubbard is standing trial in Los Angeles County, accused of two felony charges related to misappropriation of funds in the school district in which he last worked, Beverly Hills Unified. He has pleaded not guilty.

The pay increase is retroactive from Feb. 16, although Reed took on the extra responsibilities nearly a month before, according to the documents.

Reed said he only asked to get back pay from that later date because he felt that his contract called for him to fill in for the superintendent temporarily, he said.

Foley made a motion to deduct the $263 a day Reed’s pay was increased by from Hubbard’s salary, but the motion was met with silence from the board.

Hubbard is receiving about $25,497 a month while on leave, according to district documents.

An outside consultant was also brought in to assist Reed with a contract for as much as $30,000, Reed said.

“We shouldn’t be incurring additional expenses above and beyond [Hubbard’s] salary,” Foley said, adding it isn’t fair to the district.

Reed was appointed acting superintendent Jan. 24 by school board President Walt Davenport, but the position needed full school board approval to meet legal requirements, Reed said.

Without it, it could open the district up to litigation, he said.

“It’s a more formal agreement, and it protects the district so things don’t fall through the cracks,” he said.

The add-on to Reed’s contract only lasts while he fills in for Hubbard or until June 30, according to the document.