Former secretary treasurer Rick Humphreys' departure from School District 43 was by mutual agreement, The Tri-City News has learned, and one of the conditions agreed to was his $148,495 severance.
Previously, the public and SD43 employees were told Humpreys left the district for personal reasons related to his health.
In a statement, superintendent Tom Grant confirmed the process by which Humphreys stopped working for the Coquitlam school district and records show his last day of work was Dec. 19, 2012.
"We confirm that Mr. Humphreys and the school district agreed to the terms of his departure. One of those terms was the severance payment previously provided to you," Grant stated in an email this week.
The information sheds more light on the secretary treasurer's departure.
Approximately a month later, at a school board meeting Jan. 15, 2013, SD43 revealed it had a deficit of $7.5 million and would be making $5 million in non-staff cuts.
At the time, the board was optimistic the provincial budget might include more money to defray expenses and, though trustees accepted blame for lack of oversight that led to the deficit, were hopeful the situation would improve as the year progressed.
However, to balance the 2013/'14 budget, $12.1 million in cuts, including 142 jobs had to be made, with the district laying off management staff, clerks and teachers and not refilling other positions. As well, the district is expecting an $8 million deficit for this year's budget but won't know the full situation until the end of June, at which time plans to pay it back over future years will have to be made.
Trustees have also agreed to hire auditors to look further into the district's budget process and are expected hear more about the scope of forensic audits at a future board meeting.
The board's next public meeting is this Tuesday.
