Syracuse City School District

Second Amendment to Employment Agreement

AGREEMENT, made this 29th day of December, 2015, by and between the Board of

Education of the Syracuse City School District, with Administrative Offices at 725 Harrison

Street, Syracuse, New York 13210 (hereinafter, the “Board”) and Sharon L. Contreras

(hereinafter, the “Superintendent”).

WHEREAS, the Board and the Superintendent are parties to an Agreement of terms and

conditions of employment dated March 16th, 2011 as subsequently amended on December 12,

2012 (hereinafter, the “Agreement”); and

WHEREAS, said Agreement contains provisions for annual salary, benefits and other

terms and conditions of employment for the Superintendent; and

WHEREAS, there is contained at Section 3(b) of the Agreement (Term of Appointment),

a provision allowing for the extension of the Agreement, upon the request of the Superintendent

and upon Board of Education approval, and at Section (c) that any extension of the term of the

Agreement shall be confirmed by an Amendment to the Agreement; and

WHEREAS, the Board and Superintendent have conferred and agreed to amend the

Employment Agreement and further, the Board, at its meeting held on December 29, 2015

approved such amendment as noted herein.

NOW, THEREFORE, the parties hereby amend the Superintendent’s employment

agreement as follows:

1. Section “3” – Term of Appointment, Subsection (a). The remaining term of

the Agreement shall be modified to extend the expiration of said Agreement for a period of one

year so as to expire on June 30, 2017.

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2. Section “7” – Compensation. Replace Subsections (a) and (b) with the

following:

(a) The Superintendent shall be paid a base salary from July 1, 2015

to June 30, 2016 at the annual rate of Two Hundred Ten Thousand One

Hundred Twenty Dollars ($210,120) in equal installments in accordance

with the rules of the Board and procedures of the District governing

salary payment to other District administrative employees.

(b) The Superintendent's base salary for the subsequent year of her

employment under this Agreement, starting with July 1, 2016 through

June 30, 2017, shall be at the annual rate of Two Hundred Fourteen

Thousand Three Hundred Twenty-Two Dollars ($214,322) in equal

installments in accordance with the rules of the Board and procedures of

the District governing salary payment to other District administrative

employees.

3. Section “7” – Compensation – Subsection (d) (formerly Subsection (e)) –

Contribution to Tax-Sheltered Annuity shall be entitled “Retirement Savings” and replaced

with the following:

(d) Retirement Savings. On or about July 1, 2016 , the District shall

make a contribution to a tax-sheltered annuity plan, 403(b), 457(b), 401(a)

plan, another qualified or successor plan, or a combination thereof,

consistent with the respective sections of the Internal Revenue Code

(IRC), in an aggregate amount equal to ten percent (10%) of the

Superintendent’s annual salary for the 2016-2017 school year equal to

Twenty One Thousand Four Hundred Thirty Two Dollars ($21,432).

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Unless otherwise required by the terms of the applicable plan,

contributions shall be made annually within thirty (30) days of the

beginning of each school year of each year for the term of the Contract, or

any extension thereof.

4. Section “8” – Mutual Referral of Concerns, Subsection (a) – Board Referral

of Concerns. Add:

It is the parties’ expectation that under normal circumstances, reasonable

efforts will be made by a Board member to discreetly communicate and

forward to the Superintendent or the Board of Education respectively any

such communication regarding the District, in person, via telephone or via

email within 48 hours.

5. Section “9” – Performance Evaluation and Performance Award Stipend

(formerly Performance Evaluation). Add:

Section 9 is effective only through the end of the 2015-2016

Superintendent’s performance evaluation at which time this section is

deleted in its entirety and combined with a revised Section “9” which shall

be entitled “Superintendent’s Performance Evaluation”.

6. Section “9” – Superintendent’s Performance Evaluation (formerly

Performance Evaluation and Performance Award Stipend per the first amendment) shall

be revised as follows:

Effective July 1, 2016 and thereafter, no later than sixty (60) days after the

commencement of each year of the contract or at such other time as may

be mutually agreed upon, the Superintendent and Board shall mutually

identify, five certain specific goals for District-wide improvement

consistent with the goals and strategic initiatives within the Syracuse City

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School District Strategic Plan and/or other District priorities mutually

agreed upon by the Superintendent and Board. The mutually identified

goals shall form the basis of the Superintendent’s performance evaluation.

The annual evaluation will include, but not be limited to, the goals and

criteria established for the evaluation noted above. In the event that the

parties cannot agree upon the specific goals to be included in the

performance evaluation, the parties shall mutually select an individual to

provide facilitated discussion to assist in achieving mutually established

goals. The evaluation may also include other mutually agreed upon work

related criteria relating to the Superintendent’s performance of her duties

(as set forth in the contract, the Education Law and as required under the

new statewide APPR regulations), and shall be reduced to writing in a

form mutually agreed upon by the parties. The Superintendent shall be

provided with a copy of the proposed written annual evaluation of her

performance at least ten (10) days prior to the executive session of the

Board scheduled to discuss such evaluation. In the event that there is a

dispute as to whether the Superintendent has achieved each goal, the

parties agree to undergo a facilitated discussion, by a facilitator mutually

chosen by the Board and Superintendent, to help resolve the dispute.

However, the Superintendent agrees that, in each year of this Agreement,

the Board of Education shall have full and exclusive discretion to

determine whether the Superintendent has achieved each goal. Should the

Superintendent meet three of the five goals on the annual performance

evaluation, the performance evaluation shall be deemed satisfactory. The

Superintendent shall have the right to respond in writing to the

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performance evaluation. The annual performance evaluation and any

response to it shall be deemed and remain confidential to the maximum

extent allowed by law.

7. Section “10” titled, Vacation Leave, Subsection (b) – Carry Over and

Relinquishment shall be amended with the following language:

Any days of unused vacation leave earned and carried over under the

terms of this agreement and its amendments may be carried over into

succeeding year(s) of the Agreement, but at no time shall the

Superintendent’s total unused vacation allotment exceed fifty (50) days.

At the option of the Superintendent, up to fifteen (15) days of unused

vacation may be relinquished each year for reimbursement at the

Superintendent’s applicable per diem rate of pay, which is 1/240th

of her

annual salary. The Superintendent shall advise the Board President or his

or her designee of vacation usage including, whenever possible, the

advance scheduling of the same. Should this Agreement be terminated

prior to its expiration or upon separation from employment, the

Superintendent shall be entitled to payment at her per diem (i.e. 1/240th

of

her then current salary) for all accumulated vacation days up to the

maximum accumulation of 50 days.

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8. Section “11” (formerly Section 12) titled Sick Leave and Family Illness Leave

shall be modified as follows: Delete the last sentence in the paragraph and replace with the

following language:

Should this Agreement be terminated prior to its expiration or upon

separation from employment, the Superintendent shall be entitled to

payment at her per diem (i.e. 1/240th

of her then current salary) for all

unused sick leave days or converted personal leave days accrued by her

pursuant to this Agreement up to a maximum of $18,200.

9. Section “13” (formerly Section 14) titled Expense Reimbursement and

Professional Association Membership shall be replaced with the following language:

During the term of this Agreement, the Board of Education agrees to pay

the expenses of the Superintendent to attend appropriate professional and

official meetings at the local, state, and national levels. In addition, the

Board of Education agrees to pay all appropriate and reasonable business

expenses incurred in performing the duties of the Superintendent (e.g.,

business related travel, business meals). The Board agrees to pay the

annual fee for membership for the Superintendent in appropriate

professional organizations, as well. The Superintendent shall be permitted

to utilize a District credit card in accordance with procedures established

by the District. The Superintendent agrees to submit such expenses in a

timely manner.

10. Section “22” titled: Termination during the term of this Agreement by the

Board, Subsection (a) shall be amended to add the following language:

The placement of any schools under the designation of in receivership, or

the Superintendent’s actions, compliance or activities related to any school

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under the designation of struggling or persistently struggling and/or in

receivership shall not form the basis of disciplinary charges against the

Superintendent unless such actions, compliance or activities constitute

misconduct. In addition, the Superintendent’s actions, compliance or

activities related to good faith efforts to execute the agreement titled

“Assurance of Discontinuance” with the New York State Office of the

Attorney General shall not form the basis of disciplinary charges against

the Superintendent unless such actions, compliance or activities constitute

misconduct.

11. The foregoing Amendment shall become effective immediately and continue in

effect thereafter through the remaining term of the Agreement, unless subsequently modified by

the parties in writing.

12. All other provisions of the Agreement not specifically addressed herein shall

remain in full force and effect.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have set their hands and seals the day and

year first above set forth.

Agreed to this 29th day of December, 2015.

BOARD OF EDUCATION OF THE

SYRACUSE CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT

______________________________________

Michelle Mignano

President, Board of Education

______________________________________

Sharon L. Contreras

Superintendent of Schools