The cash-strapped New Westminster school district could pay former secretary-treasurer Brian Sommerfeldt up to $195,320 in severance after just four years of employment.
The payout comes at a time when the district announced it has to cut 58 positions to offset a projected $3.5-million structural deficit for next year. That, in addition to the $2.8 million it still owes on a surprise deficit from last year and another projected $1-million shortfall from this year that it is working to offset.
The school district's contract with Sommerfeldt entitled him to 18 months' notice or compensation in lieu of notice of termination of employment, according to information obtained by The Record through a freedom-of-information request.
The payment is subject to the provisions of the Public Sector Employers' Act, which means that severance payments get reduced by any amount Sommerfeldt earns if he gets a job in the public sector over the next 18 months, the district's acting secretary-treasurer Al Balalnuik wrote in an email to The Record.
"So, to answer your question specifically, I can tell you that the maximum that Mr. Sommerfeldt may receive is 18 months' salary (approximately $195,320), but the actual amount he will receive is unknown at this time, as it depends upon what other work he obtains during that 18-month period."
Balanuik was unable to confirm the amount of time that was remaining on Sommerfeldt's contract but said the district's pattern has been to provide a three-year contract upon hiring and then to renew the contract for four years.
Sommerfeldt joined the New Westminster school district in March 2009, replacing Doug Wong as secretary-treasurer.
Sommerfeldt had been on a medical leave since the beginning of February and left in March. Assistant superintendent Balanuik has been serving as acting secretary-treasurer since.
Shortly before Sommerfeldt went on medical leave, New Westminster's district parent advisory council raised the issue of voting on a motion to request that Sommerfeldt be replaced, but it didn't vote on the motion.
Sommerfeldt came to New Westminster from the Langley school district, where he started working in May 2006. A certified general accountant, he had previously worked as the director of business affairs for the Provincial Health Services Authority mental health and addiction services.
