Shirley Ison-Newsome Left DISD Yesterday With a $142,000 Golden Parachute

A bizarre and still murky series of events ended yesterday when longtime DISD administrator Shirley Ison-Newsome officially stepped aside, just four days after she announced, then promptly rescinded, her resignation in favor of retirement. Ison-Newsome has been a powerful, polarizing figure during 37 years with the district, and her departure...

By Eric Nicholson

October 31, 2012

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A bizarre and still murky series of events ended yesterday when longtime DISD administrator Shirley Ison-Newsome officially stepped aside, just four days after she announced, then promptly rescinded, her resignation in favor of retirement.

Ison-Newsome has been a powerful, polarizing figure during 37 years with the district, and her departure will no doubt be applauded by many. What will be applauded by very few people is the golden parachute she's managed to weave.

Ison-Newsome's last day was Tuesday, but the Morning News is reporting that she'll be paid all the way through August 31, 2013, her official retirement date.

"We actually do these sorts of settlements for lots of people," Superintendent Mike Miles told the paper.

At her current, $170,000 salary, her compensation for doing exactly nothing comes to just about $142,000. A lot of money, to be sure, but there's a strong argument to be made that Ison-Newsome is more valuable doing nothing than she was doing something, especially when that something included field trips.

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