Former Shawnee Mission superintendent eligible for over $53,000 in payouts, benefits

Former Shawnee Mission School District Superintendent Jim Hinson retired June 30 and is eligible for $53,295.63 in unused sick leave, vacation day payouts and medical insurance benefits, according to district policy and Hinson’s employment contract.

According to the district, Hinson was eligible for unused vacation days at a daily rate based on his $254,280 annual salary and received a payout of $34,098.75 for 35 vacation days he had accrued.

He received $1,500 for 30 unused sick days.

His employment contract also provides health and dental insurance to be paid through December. The cost of Hinson’s health insurance until the end of the calendar year is $16,935.84, according to the district.

The cost of his dental insurance totals $761.04.

Hinson, who was named superintendent of the Shawnee Mission School District in 2013, abruptly announced his intention to retire this past April. He said in a statement then that he wished to spend more time with his family and pursue other “lifelong goals.”

While some local school districts have chosen to hire district leaders out of retirement while conducting superintendent searches — the Olathe School District, for example, hired former superintendent Pat All to lead its district for a year after Superintendent Marlin Berry retired in 2016 — the Shawnee Mission school board opted not to fill the superintendent role as a “cost savings” measure, school board president Sara Goodburn said.

Instead, the Shawnee Mission Board of Education named Deputy Superintendent Kenny Southwick as interim superintendent, opting to pay the administrator an extra $34,500 on top of his $195,000 salary and $9,000 car travel allowance while he takes on both roles during the next year.

Southwick is only eligible for the additional compensation for one year, according to an addendum to his contract approved by the school board in June.

This story was originally published July 11, 2017 at 3:33 PM with the headline "Former Shawnee Mission superintendent eligible for over $53,000 in payouts, benefits."