School board extends contract, boosts pay for Gullatt

Gullatt became superintendent of the parish school system Jan. 6, 2020 and at that time was given a four-year contract, with a base salary of $130,000. The original contract was set to expire on Dec. 31, 2024, but the contract approved at the Jan. 10 meeting reset the dates with the contract beginning Jan. 11, 2023 and set to expire on Dec. 31, 2026. The revised contract also provides for a base pay of $160,000, a $30,000 increase above the original.

In addition, the contract includes an increase in the amount allotted to cover in-parish car expenses, changing from $800 to $1,000 per month. Under the contract Gullatt provides his own vehicle and must carry liability coverage and name the board as an additional insured.

The decision to extend the contract was not unanimous, however. Matt Stephens, who had defeated incumbent Tim Eubanks for the District 6 position, cast the lone dissenting vote.

Members of the seven-member board who had been sworn in at the beginning of the meeting by Winnsboro City Court Judge Scott Sartin, included incumbents Richard Kelly, Alaina Nichols, Danny Davis, Eddie Ray Bryan and Dr. Jacqueline Johnson, newly-elected Laquetta Clay Barnes, District 7, and Stephens.

The board also saw a changing of the guard with the election of Bryan to serve as president. Bryan was elected on a 4-3 roll call vote after having been nominated for the position by Davis.

Kelly was nominated by Nichols. The first round of voting was on that motion with Kelly receiving three votes – his own and those of Nichols and Johnson.

Voting in favor of Bryan were Davis, Barnes and Stephens. Bryan also voted for himself. Johnson will continue serving as vice president.

With the agenda having been approved prior to the election of officers, the meeting moved forward with Bryan as president. 

When the item related to the contract came up, Stephens asked for time to review the document saying people in his district had questions and he had just recently been presented the contract for review.

Stephens later told The Sun that he had received the contract on Monday prior to the meeting and that it had been delivered by then board president Kelly.

Other members of the board confirmed that they had also received a copy of the proposed new contract via Kelly ahead of the meeting.

No details on the contract were presented during the meeting and when Stephens posed questions about the document and whether it included changes, Nichols repeatedly stated it was the same as previously approved. However, when Stephens asked about the salary, Kelly said, “we do have a pay increase for him, we sure do.”

Kelly noted that COVID-19 came in at the time that Gullatt became superintendent and that he was faced with things that were “unprecedented.” He also said there were a number of accomplishments such as sign-on bonuses to attract new teachers.

Contacted by The Sun on Monday, Nichols said that when she had spoken at the meeting she had been under the assumption that there were no changes. She stated she had seen the salary figure but thought it was the same as previously agreed upon.

Nichols said she would not have indicated there were no changes had she realized there was a salary change.

Kelly also spoke with The Sun on Monday and said when none of the board members present at the meeting (with the exception of Stephens) expressed any concerns he was under the impression there were none.

Kelly said he had given copies of the contract to members of the board and asked that they let him know if there were any questions and concerns. He said he did not hear from any of the members. He also said he did not poll members about whether they were in agreement.

Kelly also again defended the decision to boost the superintendent’s salary, noting that Gullatt had been faced with dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic at the beginning of his tenure as superintendent of the parish school system and that despite that was able to accomplish a number of improvements.

He said a list of those accomplishments had been given to members of the board as well. The list of accomplishments, according to copies of the document provided to The Sun, include Winnsboro Elementary showing growth by 18 points making it one of the top 5 schools in the state for growth, and improvements at Crowville, Baskin and Gilbert. The school district made Top 10 in the state for student growth for the first time ever.

Also noted was an increase in the certified teacher rate, diversity hiring, appointing a curriculum coordinator in each school and implementation of a parish/school-wide nursing program.

Johnson, who said that she worked with Kelly as with the previous contract to iron out proposed details, told The Sun she had researched salaries paid to superintendents in districts similar in size to Franklin Parish and felt it was appropriate to bring the salary in line with others, particularly in regard to stipulations required in the contract for evidence of improvement in academic performance.

During the board meeting, Bryan advised Stephens that he could make a motion to table the item, and Stephens in turn offered the motion. Bryan called for a second, but got no response from the board. With no second, the motion died on the table and a roll call vote was taken on extending the contract with only Stephens voting “no.”

Details of the contract were made available on request of The Sun following the meeting. The newly approved contract, as with the previous one, includes performance objectives and targets which the superintendent is expected to fulfill.

Regarding district performance targets, the contract calls for the superintendent to improve student achievement over the period of the contract as evidenced by increasing the District Performance Score by at least two points per contract year; increasing each year the percentage of students scoring 18 or above on the ACT, improving the high school graduation rate by at least two percent each year of this contract; increasing student attendance each year, improving the percentage of teachers with Effective, proficient or highly effective ratings.

For individual schools, the contract calls for the superintendent to improve student achievement by increasing the school performance score at the high school and at each of the parish’s five elementary and junior high schools as well as increasing the percentage of teachers with effective or highly effective performance ratings at each school for each year of the contract.

Improvement of the high school graduation rate at Franklin Parish High School is also a requirement.

Incentives in addition to the base pay approved for the superintendent are offered “for each year of the contract in which the district meets or exceeds” certain criteria under his leadership. Those criteria include additional compensation of $2,500 for any year in which the district gets an “A” or equivalent rating from the Louisiana Department of Education; $1,500 per school in any year in which the schools “attain or maintain” a score of “B” or better; and $1,000 for each percentage point over a base 84 percent graduate rate.

The contract caps the incentive rate at $10,000. Any incentives earned for a year are to be paid in one check and do not become a part of the superintendent’s ongoing salary.