HOUMA, La. (AP) - The Terrebonne Parish School Board has dropped a proposal to give Superintendent Philip Martin a pay raise.
The Courier reports Board President L.P. Bordelon said Martin asked the board to pull the motion Tuesday night.
"He said he thought the whole issue was too much of a distraction," Bordelon said. "He has way too much on his plate with everything coming down from the state that he didn't want this to get in the way."
Martin did not attend the meeting himself - his father, Eldon Martin, died Monday.
The school board's executive committee had recommended increasing Martin's base salary from $134,500 to $155,000. No board member made a motion to adopt that recommendation, so the proposal failed without coming to a vote.
Martin did not ask for the raise. School board members who previously supported the increase, including Bordelon, said Terrebonne's superintendent makes less than other nearby superintendents who oversee smaller school districts.
Bordelon pointed out that the Assumption Parish superintendent makes $155,000, despite overseeing a system with about a sixth the number of students as Terrebonne.
Lafourche's superintendent makes $160,000 a year, Bordelon said.
Opponents of the raise argued it was unfair to grant Martin a pay increase during a period of budget cuts that have caused reductions in staff and all but eliminated raises for teachers for the past few years.
They also pointed out that Martin got a significant pay boost when he was hired - previous superintendent Ed Richard made $105,000.
"I think this is a good outcome for the school system," said board member Brenda Babin, who had opposed the increase. "I think this is going to please a lot of people."
Babin said it was possible the issue could come up again, given new state laws that add more powers and responsibilities to school superintendents, including one that ties performance evaluations to district test scores. But she said that discussion, should it arise, would also likely involve significant changes to the school chief's job description and performance evaluations.