Ben Necaise officially took the reins as superintendent of Zachary schools Monday after school board members awarded him a three-year contract with a base salary of $157,000 and moved the district’s outgoing leader into a consultant role.
During a special Zachary School Board meeting, Necaise and his wife watched from the audience as the board signed off on his contract, which also includes a $700-a-month vehicle allowance and a 2.5% yearly raise. There was little fanfare after the vote, with the board quietly moving on to the next item on its agenda.
Necaise narrowly won the job earlier this month. The board voted 5-4 to hire him to replace Scott Devillier, who is preparing to retire after more than a decade as superintendent.
Necaise is new to the Zachary Community School District, having spent much of his career as a teacher and principal in West Feliciana Parish and, more recently, as an associate superintendent of the East Baton Rouge Parish Public School System.
On Monday, seven of the board’s nine members voted in favor of the contract. District 1 board member Gaynell Young was absent, and Kenneth Mackie, of District 4, voted against the contract, saying he would prefer a two-year deal with Necaise.
Mackie also objected to the salary.
“I’m kind of at odds with the base amount,” he said. “Tell me why it should be $157,000.”
Necaise’s salary is on par with superintendents of similarly sized districts, said Courtney Joiner, an attorney who has been advising the board during the superintendent hiring process.
Joiner, who has helped negotiate several other superintendent contracts, said the leader of St. John the Baptist Parish schools gets $165,000 in base pay. In West Baton Rouge Parish, that salary is $155,000. Devillier started at $148,000 in base pay when he was hired to lead Zachary schools in 2012; he also got the same monthly vehicle stipend and annual raise that Necaise will receive.
One key difference between those superintendents’ contracts and the one for Necaise?
“There is no incentive pay in his contract at all,” Joiner said, adding that Necaise is the first superintendent he has met who has turned down the option of getting extra pay for certain accomplishments.
Necaise’s contract still outlines a variety of benchmarks that he must reach and that will be the basis for periodic performance evaluations by the school board.
For example, during his first year on the job, he will need to visit each school in the Zachary district. State school ratings that come out each fall also will be considered — but not until 2024, as this year’s data will be a reflection on Devillier.
The board should update the contract regularly to include new performance objectives, Joiner said.
Devillier will not retire until July 14. Because state law prohibits a school district from having two superintendents at one time, his job title in the meantime will be special consultant, a move the board OK’d Monday. His salary will not change.
“Ninety-nine percent of the time, there will be some overlap between the outgoing superintendent and the incoming superintendent as it relates to performance of duties and, more importantly, compensation,” Joiner said.
Later in the meeting, the board approved an updated Student Rights and Responsibilities Handbook for the upcoming academic year — but not without several minutes of discussion of what exactly is meant by “minor disrespect,” a term used in the document, and how it should be punished.
All of the present board members ended up agreeing to adopt the handbook except Crystal London, of District 8.
Monte Burke, supervisor of school and home relations, said the handbook lists talking back at a normal volume or rolling one’s eyes as examples of minor disrespect. Some on the board believe the term is broad and could result in teachers disciplining students over insignificant matters.
Elecia Lathon, board vice president representing District 6, said she worries that many such incidents may be the result of misunderstandings related to cultural differences. She offered the example of some cultures embracing eye contact as a sign of respect while others view the same behavior as disrespectful.
“If we are going to be a district of excellence,” Lathon said, Zachary schools must step up training efforts and improve the cultural competence of teachers. “These are things I think we really need to focus on.”
Aeneid Mason, director of Student Support Services, stood up in the back of the audience and agreed with Lathon’s point about expanding teacher training.
“I will take that on,” she told Lathon.
Burke added that there are already policies in place to ensure teachers are not writing up students unnecessarily. A teacher constantly issuing disciplinary referrals, for instance, would raise a red flag and prompt an investigation by school officials.
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