Reporting from The San Luis Obispo Tribune showed that a principal at Paso Robles High School received a $40,000 payout as part of her resignation agreement.
Former Paso Robles principal Megan Fletcher was arrested for a suspected DUI in November, after police determined that she had driven to school under the influence of alcohol.
A week later, the Paso Robles school board approved Fletcher’s resignation agreement.
The Tribune got a copy of the resignation agreement through a public records request. In the agreement, the district agreed to pay Fletcher the money within 30 days of approving the resignation.
Fletcher is still technically on unpaid administrative leave, and she’ll officially resign in June of next year.
Paso Robles Joint Unified School District sent KCBX a statement about the payment to Fletcher.
“We recognize that members of the community are understandably curious and concerned, and that situations like this can raise questions without additional context,” the statement said. “It's important to acknowledge that resignation agreements of this nature are standard practice and are used to resolve employment matters efficiently and appropriately.”
The resignation agreement doesn’t include an admission of liability from Fletcher or the school district. It does say that the district will only share basic facts with Fletcher’s future employers, like her position and start and end date.
According to The Tribune, documents show that Fletcher’s salary was almost $140,000 a year.
