Monroe County School Board gives Porter first raise, 3 more years

The Monroe County School Board this week unanimously gave Superintendent Mark Porter three more years on the job plus a $15,000 raise and $650-per-month car allowance.

Porter made no comment on the contract extension at Tuesday’s meeting in Marathon, nor did any of the five elected members.

Porter, who moved to the Keys from Minnesota to take the job in 2012, will now earn $165,000 a year, the first raise he has received since first hired.

Initially, Porter had wanted a stipulation in the deal that only a “super majority” of the board, meaning four of the five, would have the power to fire him without cause, but after an argument last month in which the board was divided, he dropped the matter.

The new deal, which runs through July 30, 2020, says a majority of the board can remove him without cause — something Chairman John Dick said would likely never come up because it would cost the district in legal fees.

On Tuesday, only former board member and Porter critic Ed Davidson spoke on the contract, saying it lacked teeth and any consequences for Porter should he start job-hunting again or break it in some way.

“This is just not a very good contract,” said Davidson, who lost his seat on the board to Mindy Conn in the Aug. 30 primary. “It’s just a bad deal.”

Portable classrooms pass

Also Tuesday, the board approved spending $396,140 to lease seven portable classrooms for two years at Gerald Adams Elementary on Stock Island to make up for space lost to the construction of a new building.

Porter called the item “a potential lease,” and said it’s possible the school would need fewer. The deal includes delivery and removal by Mobile Modular Management Corporation.

The board meets next Jan. 24 in Key West at 5 p.m. at 241 Trumbo Road.