Elizabeth Celania-Fagen

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The Tucson Unified School District's new superintendent, Elizabeth Celania-Fagen, will make an annual salary of at least $205,000 after the district's Governing Board approved a three-year contract late Tuesday night.

Also during the meeting, the board voted to reverse a February decision that would have made cuts for counselors and librarians at elementary schools in the upcoming school year.

The contract for Celania-Fagen, who will begin July 1, includes increases for inflation as well as a stipulation that she can earn up to $20,000 in performance bonus pay, though the performance measures have yet to be determined and can vary from year to year, said board President Alex Rodriguez.

The contract includes a $6,000 auto allowance for the first year, rising to $7,200 the following year.

Celania-Fagen also will receive $12,000 per year for civic responsibilities, a $1,080 cell-phone allowance and moving expenses up to $12,000. She also gets 35 days of paid leave a year to use for illness, vacation or other personal leave.

The position was advertised with a salary range of $185,000 to $230,000.

Retiring Superintendent Roger Pfeuffer's salary is $154,015, with a total compensation package of $173,095.

In bringing the counselors and librarians matter back for reconsideration, board member Joel Ireland said it was clear that the decision had unintended negative consequences, but that restoring the positions would mean the board would have to find $1 million to cut somewhere else.

While the proposal wouldn't have led to any outright job losses, elementary schools in some instances would have been forced to choose between having a librarian or a counselor. Employees whose positions were lost would return to teaching or be otherwise reassigned.

Ireland reversed his position from February and joined board members Judy Burns and Adelita Grijalva in restoring the cuts. Bruce Burke and Alex Rodriguez voted to keep the cuts.

"The problem I had with this cut all along is it is really hurtful to children right when they're getting into literacy and problem-solving," Grijalva said.

Burke said by voting to restore the cuts, the board was sending a message that it will cave if there's enough pressure, while Rodriguez said he voted to keep the cuts because the budget deficits require difficult decisions and finding $1 million to cut elsewhere and could increase the pressure to close schools. The district already is pushing for the closures of four elementary schools as part of cost-saving measures in the face of a projected $20 million deficit in the 2008-09 school year.