Calgary school board mum on reason for superintendent's early resignation

Calgary's public school board is not saying why its chief superintendent has resigned with more than a year and half left on his five-year contract.

David Stevenson's resignation comes just two weeks after a number of school trustees were elected who had campaigned on a promise to stand up more forcefully to administrators on key issues.

Stevenson, who has worked for the CBE for more than 42 years, was paid $295,000 per year in base salary.

He will receive a retiring allowance of one year's salary when he leaves the job.

Colin Craig, the Alberta director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, says that's obscene.

"It's probably a little bit late now, just given he was hired many years ago, but it's ultimately elected officials that have to do a good job at making sure that they negotiate good deals for taxpayers," he said.

"And that obviously didn't happen.He shouldn't be getting a huge golden good-bye cheque for deciding to quit."

The boardissued a news release Monday afternoon after localnews mediareported Stevenson's pending departure before an official announcement could be made.

"We deeply regret the manner in which this information was made public," thetrustees said in a statement. "As a Board of Trustees, it was our hope that Chief Stevenson would have had the opportunity to share his news with all CBE staff prior to a public release."

The CBE says Stevenson will remain on the job for six months and a special hiring committee will be set up to find a replacement.

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