2/12/2011 6:30:00 AMInterim Cleveland Schools CEO Peter Raskind gets $1 salary

February 12, 2011

Tipoff, Mike McIntyre, The Plain Dealer

Got it covered: Interim Cleveland Schools CEO Peter Raskind is taking the same $1 salary he earned in the same role for the Port Authority.

Last week, the school board put it in writing in a resolution in which it guarantees it has enough money to cover the salary.

Whew. A whole buck. That was a tough one to squeeze into the budget.

The contract approved by the board is a head-scratcher because of its boilerplate language.

It notes Raskind, former head of National City Bank, is entitled to state pension benefits based on his wages, and six weeks' vacation (he only plans to be on the job until a permanent CEO is picked, probably by June.)

The contract might seem awkward, but you have to forgive the board. It's not used to bosses who want less money.

CEO Eugene Sanders, whose final salary totaled more than $263,000 a year, billed the schools $110,000 for 100 vacation days he said he didn't take during his four years and eight months on the job.

The district apparently learned from its mistakes. Raskind's contract bars such an arrangement, which – at about 2 cents per week for six weeks of unused vacation time, would set the schools back a whopping 12 cents.