Local News

Cambridge Schools to pay $200,000 to terminated superintendent

Greer and the School Committee agreed to a severance pay of $136,581 and an additional $68,290 outside their contractual obligation.

Dr. Victoria Greer. Barry Chin/Globe Staff

June 13, 2024

1 minute to read

Cambridge Public Schools agreed to pay their outgoing superintendent more than $200,000 in severance pay after they terminated her contract “without good cause,” according to a separation agreement obtained by The Boston Globe.

The School Committee voted last month to end Victoria Greer’s contract a year before it was set to expire. According to the separation agreement, Greer will be on paid leave beginning on June 30 and will officially leave the position on Aug. 5.

Greer and the School Committee agreed to a severance pay of $136,581, according to the separation agreement. According to Greer’s contract, she is owed six months of her salary for early termination “without good cause.” Greer’s contract started at $260,000 in 2023, with a planned 2.5% raise each year.

The contract orders the district to pay out all unused vacation days, unused sick leave, and an additional $15,000 payment.

Outside of the school’s contractual obligations, Cambridge Schools will also pay Greer $68,290, equal to what would have been three months of her pay in 2025.

Last month, Cambridge Mayor Denise Simmons said the School Committee can expect to hear a transition plan by June 24.

Greer’s annual review showed a ‘needs improvement’

Greer’s termination comes after a tumultuous year for her, as she disappointed in a yearly review and came under fire from parents about an elementary school principal she hired.

Kathleen Smith, the principal at Graham and Parks School, was hired in 2022 after eight years as principal at Underwood Elementary in Newton, where she was the subject of an internal investigation into reports of fear and intimidation.

A coalition of Cambridge parents raised concerns about Smith, and the district launched an external investigation in February. In a letter to the School Committee earlier this year, parents called her hiring a “unacceptable failure of due diligence.”

Greer’s annual review reflected similar concerns. Last summer, Greer received a “needs improvement” rating from the School Committee, which cited concerns in her hiring processes, management, and communication with stakeholders, member Rachel Weinstein wrote in her monthly blog.

Previously, Greer received a $750,000 settlement in a racial discrimination suit from her time as Sharon Public Schools superintendent from 2017 to 2021.