Collier school board accepts settlement with Baker

Baker

The district’s dealings with former Superintendent Ray Baker are over.

The Collier County School Board voted 4-1 Thursday evening to accept a $555,000 settlement in the Baker lawsuit.

Board Vice Chairwoman Pat Carroll was the lone dissenter.

“I have been lobbied by both sides and I understand the fiduciary responsibility,” she said. “The majority of people who have lobbied me do not support this settlement, and I am going to be the voice of those people tonight.”

Under the terms of the agreement, the school district will pay Baker $555,000 and Baker will acknowledge that the district did not violate Florida’s open records law.

School Board Attorney Richard Withers said continuing the lawsuit was not in the best interest of the public.

Withers said he believed the district could beat the allegations that the board members terminated Baker’s contract by collaborating in secret and violating the Sunshine Law but the district would have a hard time defending its position to fire Baker based on the reason it gave.

“There may be 100 reasons why you wanted to fire Mr. Baker, but the one you chose was pretty weak,” Withers said. “When you use that justification to terminate a 34 year employee, ... there is not a jury on the planet that would be sympathetic to our position that you could fire someone who worked for you for 34 years on a technicality.”

Baker filed his lawsuit against the district on Aug. 20. The lawsuit alleged the School Board violated state Sunshine Laws, so its July 31 vote to fire Baker was void.

In the suit, Baker contended that School Board Chairwoman Linda Abbott and School Board members Steve Donovan and Richard Calabrese conspired against him by communicating in secret and with each other, in violation of the Florida Government in the Sunshine Law, to declare his contract void before the board voted 3-2 to fire him at the July 31, 2007, meeting.

In his recommendation that Baker be terminated, Calabrese said Baker violated his contract by failing to perform his duties under Florida law.

Baker’s contract was declared void a week after a report by Hinshaw & Culbertson found that the district failed to uniformly award credits to students taking courses paired with Advanced Placement classes.

The report followed a four-month investigation into how credits were given at Collier County high schools. The report looked at high school courses district-wide, addressing course credit issues and questions raised by students and their parents.

The report indicated that some students received different credits for taking the same course and the district added the term “honors” to course titles, although the Florida Department of Education didn’t authorize a course title with that designation.

The district has argued that once Baker failed to perform his duties, he couldn’t use the provisions of his contract to keep his job.

Abbott said she objected to the notion that the board fired Baker over a technicality. She said Baker refused to acknowledge the problem with the classes or make changes.

“I want this to go to trial because I want my name and the board’s name cleared,” she said. “But that does not justify spending millions of taxpayer dollars to achieve that.”

Withers said the question was not if the district would have to pay, but how much. He said estimates of the district’s financial responsibility should the suit go to trial were between $2.2 million and $2.67 million.

“It is an easy call. You are getting out of this for one-third to one-half of what your exposure is,” he said.

Naples resident Shawn Black urged the board to vote against the settlement. He was concerned that the district would open itself to greater liability by agreeing to release Baker from any liability arising out or under his employment with the district.

“This $2.2 million to $2.6 million is pennies compared to what you could pay if it is found that Mr. Baker misdirected federal funds or if he is sued as part of the Nelson Faerber case,” he said, referring to a lawsuit currently in U.S. District Court in Fort Myers that alleges school officials knew Faerber, a longtime board member, made a documented habit of checking underage students out of class for the purposes of sexual contact.

Withers said the language in the contract that releases Baker from liability is there because of state statute. The district would be responsible to represent Baker in a suit in which he acted in his contractual capacity for the district, he said.

Board member Kathleen Curatolo said she would vote to settle the lawsuit against her better personal judgment.

“No matter what my personal feelings are, I have to act as a School Board member in this case. And that means limiting the financial responsibility of the district,” she said.

Donovan said he was pleased with the outcome. He said the board members have nothing to hide, but said they acted prudently with taxpayer dollars.

“The blogs may judge me and others may judge me, but there is nothing there,” he said.

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The Collier County School Board voted 4-1 to accept a settlement, which ends a suit with former Superintendent Ray Baker. Both sides agree that:

• The district will pay Baker a total of $555,000 in two equal installments, the first of which will occur before the fiscal year ends June 30, 2008. The second will be paid between Jan. 1, 2009 and Jan. 31, 2009. The School Board also agrees to cooperate with Baker in the extent that he may wish to defer the payments or portions of the payment to a tax-deferral program.

• The School Board will reinstate Baker and his wife to its group health coverage until they become eligible for Medicare coverage.

• The Collier County School Board will acknowledge that the Hinshaw & Culbertson report provides the sole factual basis for its action in terminating Baker, and the board waives any claims for damages it may have under state and federal laws as a result of the breach.

• Both Baker’s suit and the district’s counterclaim will be dismissed.

• Baker will acknowledge that the evidence to date does not establish that a violation of the Sunshine Law occurred and waives any claims for damages or reinstatement based upon a Sunshine Law violation.

• Baker will release the School Board and its members from any liability arising out of or under his employment.

• The Collier County School Board will release Baker from any liability arising out of or under his employment or under any terms or conditions of his contract.

• Baker will be responsible for his own attorney fees under the agreement.