SYRACUSE, N.Y. (Syracuse.com) — The Syracuse City School District paid its former chief academic officer at least $59,900 to stop working for the district, and both sides agreed not to speak about the separation, according to a settlement agreement obtained by syracuse.com.
Britt Britton resigned from SCSD on June 30 after spending two months on paid administrative leave. The district had suspended her while investigating her “conduct and leadership,” according to SCSD documents.
Previous reporting from syracuse.com showed Britton was missing a required certification, and that she appears to have been living in Maryland while working for the Syracuse district.
Syracuse.com obtained Britton’s separation agreement with the district, along with other documents about Britton, through a Freedom of Information Law request.
School officials have refused to talk about Britton’s suspension or resignation. Britton has not responded to multiple calls, emails and texts.
In the agreement, signed May 11, Britton and the school district agreed to not say anything disparaging about the other, including to the news media.
SCSD agreed to pay Britton a lump sum of $17,124. The district also paid her for eight unused vacation days and two days of paid time off.
The agreement doesn’t say how much she was paid for those days, and district officials wouldn’t say. Britton’s daily pay rate was $790, according to her pay stubs. At that rate, those unused days would be worth about $7,900.
SCSD was not required to pay out the PTO. An SCSD contract states that administrators forfeit their PTO hours when they resign or are terminated.
Allen Shoikhetbrod, an employment lawyer and managing partner at Tully Rinckey Law Firm, said a lump sum payment in a separation agreement is typically equal to how much an employer thinks it would have to pay a defense attorney.
The district put Britton on leave on April 20. While on leave, she earned $42,809, according to her pay stubs. The district hired her replacement while she was still on leave.
In total, then, SCSD spent at least $59,900 on Britton’s suspension and resignation. Starting pay for a teacher is $59,500, according to an SCSD job posting.
The separation agreement included a confidentiality and non-disparagement clause. Shoikhetbrod said the purpose of a non-disparagement clause is “so no one talks about the situation.”
A non-disparagement clause can prevent those involved in the separation agreement from speaking publicly. The clause does not clarify what a disparaging comment would be, meaning there is room for Britton and the district to break the agreement without meaning to.
Similar clauses have been under scrutiny recently. In February, the New York State Senate passed a bill that would prohibit confidentiality clauses and non-disclosure agreements in corporate subsidy and economic development contracts entered into by state or local governments.
The bill would prevent governments from hiding their development projects. For example, Erie County worked on “Project Olive” for two years before revealing the planned development was a massive Amazon warehouse, Buffalo News reported in 2020. Officials said their NDAs stopped them from disclosing they were working with Amazon. The warehouse never came to fruition.
SCSD agreed to keep the terms of Britton’s separation confidential except where required by law, such as through a FOIL request or a legal subpoena. If someone submitted a FOIL request related to Britton, the district agreed to notify her — a clause Shoiketbrod rarely sees.
The agreement specifically bars six administrators from saying anything negative about Britton: Pamela Odom, Tara Jennings, Laura Kelley, Eric Thomas, Manami Tezuka and Jefferson Dedrick.
The contract included other provisions, like that Britton will never apply for an SCSD job or work for the district again, unless asked by the superintendent. If a future employer calls looking for a reference, SCSD will only provide the dates Britton worked, her salary and the position title she held. Britton also cannot sue SCSD.
Typically an employer draws a separation when they want to limit liability, Shoikhetbrod said. A separation agreement shows that an employer is willing to expend resources to make sure there is no future litigation, he said.
