During a recent executive session Decatur’s school board unanimously voted a $10,000 contractual bonus for Superintendent David Dude.

Annual performance bonuses were written into the three-year contract Dude signed in October 2015, shortly before becoming the school system’s 10th superintendent. That contract paid him $179,000 for the remainder of the 2015-16 school year (he started Nov. 2, 2015) and the same amount this past year.

He’s received $10,000 bonuses at the end of both years.

Now beginning his third year, Dude will get paid $189,000 for 2017-18, and is eligible for a $20,000 performance bonus this time next year. At the end of next school year the contract allows for an extension and raise of what was originally stated as $199,000.

In an email this week Dude said the $199,000 was only “a placeholder since my contract wasn’t a full 3 years.”

Dude’s predecessor Phyllis Edwards was superintendent a shade over 12 years and made $220,000 plus a $20,000 performance bonus in her final year.

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