Debt-Ridden Richmond District Ousts Schools Superintendent

RICHMOND, Calif. —  After months of rumors, the Richmond school board has ousted Supt. Walter Marks amid concern that he was jeopardizing the district’s chances of getting a second emergency bailout loan from the state.

Marks was hired three years ago to make changes but is leaving the district in financial chaos. The district, which had a $141.5-million budget this year, could run out of money by next February, one state legislator said.

The district, which faces an estimated $25-million shortfall for next year, received a $9-million loan from the state earlier this year and is forced to ask for an additional $25 million.

“The consensus of opinion was that if we were going to have a good shot of seeing this loan, Marks would have to go,” said Assemblyman Robert J. Campbell (D-Richmond), who called the district “the worst example of a public agency not being run well.”

Marks will leave Dec. 31 and will be paid $93,989 to buy out the remainder of his four-year contract. His salary was $112,566 a year to oversee the 30,000-student district.

“When push came to shove, somebody had to go and it’s me because I wanted it to be,” Marks said. “I’ve wanted it for a long time. I’ve done all I can do--both good and bad.”

Fred Stewart, a state trustee who has been overseeing the district since the governor approved the first loan last summer, said it will take “a miracle” to save the 48-school Richmond Unified School District.

“The district is in a very deep hole, and it’s going to take the combination of a lot of support from a lot of people before this problem is solved,” he said. “I have never seen a district in such financial condition.”

Campbell said the board blamed the controversial superintendent for introducing innovative programs without considering how to pay for them.