By Rick Madewell
Assistant Editor

Osceola County School District Superintendent Michael A. Grego is having trouble putting his finger on what all the fuss is about after he moved his deputy superintendents to a higher classification level.

Grego said deputy superintendents Debra Pace and Beverly Carbaugh absolutely deserved the bump up to senior management service classification, which allows almost half a percent more in retirement pay. He also said he put in for the classification change, which included a retroactive amount to the time they were given their deputy positions, through the Florida Retirement System about a year ago. It was not, he said, a last-minute move as he prepares to leave the district at the end of May.

School Board Chairman Cindy Hartig, however, is not happy with the situation.

“I’m extremely bothered by this,” she said. “We have had people who have had no raises in three years and this happens.”

Hartig said the superintendent has the authority to sign off on purchase orders under $25,000 but only if they benefit the district.

“I don’t see how in these economic times that this benefits the district at all,” she said.

With the reclassification of Pace and Carbaugh, their retirement benefits increase from 1.6 percent to 2 percent and the increase will mean a total between the two of $28,000 a year, instead of the previous $20,000, Hartig said.

“I’m not saying these people (Pace and Carbaugh) don’t deserve it, but why retro?” Hartig asked. “That comes out of taxpayer dollars.”

Grego said the district actually has the potential to classify 75 total jobs on the senior management service tier, but he only sought the change for his two deputies.

“My assumption when I first got here was that the deputy positions were classified as that,” Grego said. “Last year, when I learned that wasn’t the case, I requested the reclassification. I followed every rule, crossing every ‘t’ and dotting every ‘i’.”

The superintendent added that he spoke to the board about it more than a year ago, but new members had come onto the board since then and some were unaware of it.

“I didn’t need board approval to do it, but I brought it up anyway,” he said. “I now have calls into all the board members to explain things.”

Grego said that Osceola County already has one of the lowest administrative costs in the state and that even with the classification change, there is no extra money being handed out.

“They are not getting any checks,” he said. “Nobody is getting a bonus.”

The School District will next meet in a special meeting and workshop Tuesday at 1 p.m.