A former deputy superintendent for Atlanta Public Schools received $188,000 for the day of work she put in as head of a Texas school district before a test cheating scandal derailed her contract.
The DeSoto Independent School District board of trustees canceled Kathy Augustine’s contract as superintendent in July but never revealed how much the district paid to sever ties with the former Atlanta school official.
Augustine was only on the job one day before being placed on administrative leave as the test cheating scandal grew in Atlanta.
While on paid leave she received $31,333. The DeSoto district added to that $156,666 to complete the severance package, the district said in a release this week. The package was equal to what would have been Augustine’s annual pay, officials said.
The settlement, which allows Augustine to resign instead of being fired, became effective Saturday.
Augustine, the No. 2 administrator behind former APS superintendent Beverly Hall, was accused of illegally withholding public documents, making false statements and "aiding and abetting" Hall in "falsifying, misrepresenting or erroneously reporting the evaluation of students" on the 2009 CRCT, according to the investigation.
Augustine denied any wrongdoing and as a candidate for the superintendent’s post in Texas she advised board members about the pending investigation into allegations of APS state exam cheating.
The DeSoto district, which has come under fire for its hiring of Augustine, acknowledged that the payment was “significant” and said it has been “humbled” by the controversy.
“The board, while taking full responsibility, feels this closure allows the district to move forward without further distractions toward the goal of becoming an exemplary institution,” the trustees said in its release.
_ Staff writer D. Aileen Dodd contributed to this report.
About the Author
