Baker

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The Collier County School Board is working to settle the lawsuit brought against it by former Superintendent Ray Baker.

School Board attorney Richard Withers said Wednesday the district is in discussions with its insurance company, Ace Professional, to settle the suit.

Baker’s lawsuit alleges School Board Chairwoman Linda Abbott and board members Steve Donovan and Richard Calabrese conspired against him by violating the Florida Government in the Sunshine Law by communicating in secret and with each other to declare his contract void before the board told him he was no longer superintendent at a July 31 public meeting.

“I would say we are 50/50 right now,” Withers said Wednesday afternoon. “We’re midway there.”

Withers said Baker’s conversation last week with Superintendent Dennis Thompson following Thompson’s deposition in Baker’s suit got the ball rolling toward settlement.

Withers said any settlement offer will not be a “100 percent win” for Baker. The suit seeks damages for more than $15,000.

In addition to compensatory damages involving the remainder of his contract, the suit also seeks interest on the money involved, as well as costs and attorney fees.

In November 2006, the School Board voted 4-1 to give Baker a 5 percent performance pay increase, in addition to the 6 percent cost-of-living increase he received in August 2006. The vote pushed Baker’s salary from $198,000 a year to $207,000.

Baker’s attorney, Jeffrey Fridkin, said the settlement is in the hands of the district, but indicated that things could be settled if the district is willing to provide to Baker what the court would provide by judgment.

Withers said the settlement probably won’t include everything Baker is seeking, including the money he would have had in his contract for expenses since he hasn’t purchased anything as superintendent since July 31.

Withers said the district’s big concern is over the Florida Retirement System’s benefits.

“The claim is that by taking the action of terminating his contract, the board cut off his opportunity to earn those last two years of salary and would have resulted in a larger retirement benefit,” he said. “Those are consequential damages to him.”

Withers said the district hoped to have a settlement offer for the Collier County School Board to vote on at its special meeting Feb. 7. If the district has the offer, it will be on the agenda, he said.

“I am optimistic we will make a good-faith effort,” he said. “It won’t be for lack of trying, I can tell you that.”

But, Withers said, although district officials are working on a settlement, the School Board will still have the final vote.

“There’s no guarantee that the board majority will find any proposal acceptable. So it’s not an easy task,” he wrote in an e-mail.

Withers said if the district and board cannot agree on a settlement offer Feb. 7, a hearing for a summary judgment in the case will move forward as planned. Withers said all depositions have been put on hold.