At their final meeting before the Nov. 19 municipal elections, the Okanagan-Skaha School Board defeated a motion that would have protected taxpayers from pension double dipping by senior district officials.

As regular blog readers will recall, yesterday we posted that the Board was debating a motion to stop the practice of having school district retire on a Friday, begin collecting their pension, and then return to the same job Monday morning with both the pension and a salary.

After a heated 45-minute debate, the Board defeated the motion, giving a green light to their administration to continue the practice.

From the Penticton Herald:

Perry believes it’s ethically wrong for a senior administrator to retire, collect full pension and then be hired back to basically the same position only a few weeks later.

Trustees voted 4-3 against the motion with Tom Siddon and Shelley Clarke voting in favour of Perry’s motion and Ginny Manning, Larry Little, Connie Denesiuk and Linda Van Alphen against.

Little, who is not seeking re-election, said he voted against the motion believing it would be inappropriate to bring it in for a new board to deal with. When questioned afterward, Little acknowledged the motion did have some merit.

Once trustee debate began, superintendent Wendy Hyer made a lengthy address encouraging trustees to vote against the motion. Hyer said she sought a legal opinion and was advised that such a policy could be discriminatory. She also noted that the board saves money because it doesn’t have to make pension contributions for a staff member already on pension.

Hyer eventually called on assistant superintendent Dave Burgoyne to elaborate to which Siddon barked, "You’re out of order!"

Quoting Robert’s Rules of Order, a parliamentary authority document which many school boards use for meetings, Siddon noted, "It is not appropriate for staff to be giving input into this debate unless called upon."

Siddon said in 2006, former superintendent Gary Doi retired without the public being told but was immediately hired back to his old position drawing both pension and a full salary. Siddon said Doi’s hiring was without competition or public notification.

During question period, chair Ginny Manning said there are many board hirings which are posted and advertised and noted a bad hire can cost the board a lot of money in the long run. She said the case Siddon referenced was one of the few instances when a job was not posted.

Calling the practice "unethical”, Siddon said the reason the motion was presented so close to an election was only because it was proposed by a senior employee in September to do something similar to what Doi did in 2006. This suggestion was made during an in-camera session.

Siddon stated that a teacher or custodian would never be allowed to retire and then be immediately hired back under contract. He said there needs to be consistency.

And from the Penticton Western News:

Hyer’s statement included legal advice from the B.C. School Trustees Association that the proposed amendment could be considered discriminatory. She also included the definition of “double-dipping.”

“Having two sources of income is not double-dipping, unless the two sources are compensating the person for the same thing,” said Hyer. “Pension income is an earned benefit that is compensation for past service. Employment income or contract income is compensation for current service. This is not double dipping.”
Siddon exploded, interrupting Hyer and shouted for a point of privilege, reducing the table to temporary chaos.

“Staff should not intercede in a roundtable debate amongst trustees until they have all been heard and it is most inappropriate to have this intercession” said Siddon. “It’s not clarification, it’s a political speech prepared by the superintendent. She starts the speech by saying she wants to speak against the motion.”

When trustee Connie Denesiuk interrupted with an intercession of her own, moving a motion of support for the chair, Siddon refused to slow.

“If you want to have a showdown, we will have a vote right now. If the chair is sustained, it’s over, but the basis on which this motion is brought will be debated in the public arena,” said Siddon, one of a number of trustees, including Perry, who are not running for re-election.

The reason for this motion being brought forward, Siddon said, is not because retired people can’t work at another job. Rather, he said, it’s to do with the lack of openness and competition for the job of superintendent when Gary

Doi retired in 2007 and was rehired almost immediately under contract.

Talk about semantics: The top bureaucrat claims this isn’t double dipping because “Pension income is an earned benefit that is compensation for past service. Employment income or contract income is compensation for current service.” Actually, it’s pure double dipping: being paid twice for the same job, and it’s another reason why public sector pension plans need some sort of clawback clause to better protect the hardworking taxpayers who always get stuck with the tab.