Broward School Board slashes former superintendent’s separation package

Former Broward Schools Superintendent Peter Licata will end his short tenure with the Broward School Board on July 1, leaving without a hefty separation package or consulting deal that he had tentatively negotiated.

Not only did School Board members reject a $60,577 proposed consulting agreement, they lowered Licata’s salary for his remaining days from $350,000 a year to $287,500, while taking away a $1,200-a-month car allowance and some other benefits for his final weeks.

“Chaos is having a superintendent leave in less than a year but wanting a balloon payment from our taxpayers,” Board member Torey Alston said.

Licata, who started last July, will get unused sick and vacation days. While the total cost wasn’t available Tuesday afternoon, it will be far less than the $204,000 package he negotiated with Board Chairwoman Lori Alhadeff two weeks ago.

Licata initially rejected the offer. But after two recesses to meet his lawyer, he agreed to accept it.

“When I stepped outside the second time, knowing the motives of some and the feelings of others, my wife texted me and said you’re not known for the money you made in your life,” Licata said. “You’re known for the difference you made in children.”

Earlier, Licata’s lawyer, Glen Torcivia, had argued Licata should be compensated , either with severance or a later end date, because he was being forced out.

On April 17, Licata gave the School Board a letter announcing his retirement Dec. 31. Nearly immediately afterward, Alhadeff made a motion to end his contract and replace him with his deputy superintendent, Howard Hepburn.

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“If you decide that Dr. Hepburn is going to be your next superintendent, and you all say you can’t have two superintendents, you’re basically saying to this guy (Licata), we’re shoving you out of the way, politely or not. He’s no longer the superintendent,” Torcivia said.

Under his contract, Licata was entitled to 60 days’ notice and 20 weeks’ severance if he was terminated without cause.

However, board members noted Licata voiced support for the quicker transition during the meeting, telling them that replacing him right away with Hepburn would be the smoothest since Hepburn had been job searching.

Board member Debbi Hixon said it was a misrepresentation to suggest Licata was forced out. He and the board agreed to a mutually agreeable separation, she said.

“We would have been happy for him to stay three years. None of us wanted to get rid of him,” she said.

School Board members gave Licata an ultimatum toward the end of a 4½-hour discussion: to accept a modest package or be terminated for cause immediately. The potential cause, General Counsel Marylin Batista said, would be falsely stating his intended retirement in hopes of getting a severance package.

Several board members said the quick transition from Licata to Hepburn felt coordinated and they voiced concern that the night before the April 16 vote, Licata asked Alhadeff to keep it quiet so as not to “poke holes” in his announcement.

Licata and his lawyer insisted the superintendent intended to work until Dec. 31, which is the date he put on a retirement letter he gave to the board last month. He told the board he would be stepping down to deal with health issues.

But Licata said after the meeting his letter and intent was clear: He planned to step down Dec. 31, and it was the board’s decision to make that earlier.

“The board acted quickly,” he said after the meeting. “Sometimes you get buyer’s remorse. Sometimes you get seller’s remorse.”