We’ll probably never know exactly why the former business manager for Lyons-Brookfield School District 103, Jacqueline Parisi, was suddenly placed on paid administrative leave on Aug. 26, 2016 – a little less than two months into a contract that was to have paid her $118,000 for the 2016-17 school year.
All we really know is that the district surely came out on the wrong end of this situation, at least financially.
For her less than two full months of work for the school district, Parisi walks away with about $105,000 in salary and benefit payments, according to the terms of a settlement agreement the school board inked recently with the former employee.
And that doesn’t include contributions to health insurance premiums the district paid for Parisi through Feb. 28 or the up to $2,400 in additional health insurance premiums that could accrue in the next four months.
It also doesn’t take into account the up to $60,000 the district may pay to a part-time business manager it was forced to hire when they shelved Parisi at the beginning of the school year.
So, that $118,000 salary line item in the District 103 for the business manager will end up being more like $178,000 plus the cost to hire a full-time replacement in time for 2017-18.
And who would want that job anyway?
Did Parisi warrant being fired? Well, the school board voted unanimously, so take that for whatever message it sends. The only thing anyone else will know publicly is that Parisi accomplished some cost savings to the district and corrected a prior tax levy mistake that gained them additional revenue.
Seems like it would have been a lot cheaper for taxpayers of the district to simply not rehire her at the end of the contract.
