LORAIN — The Lorain school board on Wednesday approved a contract extension for Superintendent Cheryl Atkinson that will keep her in the district until 2014.

Only school board member Jim Smith voted against the contract, saying he was worried about the district’s finances.

“I’m very concerned that we are in a very tough situation,” Smith said. “It has nothing to do with the personality of Dr. Atkinson.”

Smith said the board needs to worry about passing a levy in November, an issue the board plans to address later this month, because the district is in danger of budget shortfalls in the coming years. The district also still needs to reach deals on contracts with several unions, he said.

School board Vice President Tony Dimacchia said while he shares Smith’s concerns about the district’s finances, the school system has already lost too many good people to other districts willing to pay more money.

Atkinson, Dimacchia said, is the right person to continue to lead the district.

“This district is moving forward,” he said. “We’ve had a good year.”

Atkinson thanked the board for extending her contract and said she was successful because of the other people who work for the district.

“This is not just me. It is us, and we are committed,” she said to applause from the audience.

Board President Cynthia Miller drew amens from the audience when she said the district needs to keep Atkinson onboard.

“I just personally think this district needs some continuity,” she said.

Atkinson’s new contract differs in several ways from the three-year contract she signed when she replaced former Superintendent Dee Morgan in 2007.

Several provisions were eliminated from the contract, including a residency restriction that required her to live within the school district, which the board had decided not to enforce.

Atkinson lives in the part of Lorain that falls within the boundaries of the Amherst Schools in a home owned by school board attorney Anthony Giardini.

Smith had been critical of Atkinson for violating the residency provision in her previous contract. He has also questioned the wisdom of delaying until the fall a performance review of Atkinson that the board had hoped to complete by July.

Smith has said his review would have been less positive than Atkinson’s first evaluation in which the board gave an “exemplary” review. Smith has said he has concerns that Atkinson has a tendency to micromanage.

The new contract also eliminates language in the old contract that required Atkinson’s performance review to be placed in her personnel file in a sealed envelope marked confidential. Ohio law considers evaluations of public employees to be public records.

The review was not in her file.

The new contract also removed a clause in Atkinson’s old contract that prevented her from seeking employment elsewhere for most of her contract.

Instead, the new contract will purchase a year’s worth of extra retirement benefits through the State Teachers Retirement System for each year she’s at the district.

Giardini said the board still needs to complete a review of Atkinson’s paychecks during her first few years in education, upon which the extra years in retirement will be based, to determine how much that will cost.

The board is trying to entice Atkinson to stay by offering her the chance to build up retirement benefits, something that’s hard to come by for superintendents who change jobs frequently, Giardini said.

“Instead of using a sword, we’re using honey,” he said after the meeting.

Giardini said once the retirement issue is sorted out, the contract will be worth between $230,000 and $235,000 in total compensation annually. Atkinson’s old contract was worth about $213,000 each year.

Atkinson’s base pay climbed from $175,000 per year to $180,000 annually, but the board also eliminated a $5,000 performance bonus she was receiving.

Her contact also mandates that she receive $500,000 in life insurance — up from $200,000 under the old contract — as well as disability insurance that, if used, will pay her $125,000 annually, which she hadn’t received before.

The district will also now pay for Atkinson to have professional liability insurance worth up to $3 million. The board also agreed to defend Atkinson from criminal charges as long as any allegations center on her work as superintendent and if she believed she was acting in a lawful manner.

Atkinson also will have more vacation and personal leave under the new contract. She will also now receive an Ohio Turnpike pass from the district.

Another change in the contract is the addition of a section that spells out her role and that of the board.

The contract said that while the board is responsible for policy making, it is up to Atkinson to implement that policy. The board also agreed that it would not reduce Atkinson’s authority and that individual board members will have no authority to issue orders to school employees.

“Members of the Board acknowledge that their authority exists as a collective body and that individual members of the board have the same rights and responsibilities as they relate to governance of the district and its staff as any other citizen of the community,” the contract said.

Contact Brad Dicken at 329-7147 or bdicken@chroniclet.com.

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