Pedro Noguera's contract with the Santa Monica-Malibu school district has increased 68 percent over its original amount.
The local Board of Education on Thursday allocated an additional $25,000 for the work being done by the renowned educator and sociologist, who was hired last year to address longstanding achievement gaps in the district.
The changes account for additional assignments and corrected calculation errors, according to a Feb. 9 memo from Noguera to Supt. Sandra Lyon.
The most recent amendment comes on top of a $50,000 increase that was approved last month, according to an SMMUSD report, bringing the entire contract to a total of $185,000.
“This request is to revise the contract so that it includes equity review at all schools, expanded stakeholder interviews, and interviews with district leadership, in addition to a corrected calculation of the original work scope,” the memo reads.
The number of interview days jumped from four to seven and the number of school visits went up from 12 in the original proposal to 17, including a sampling of preschool programs that is being counted as one visit.
“We also came to the conclusion that it would be unwise not to include two days of interviews with senior district personnel in the central office,” the memo reads.
Interviews are still in progress, SMMUSD spokeswoman Gail Pinsker said. The district expects a report from Noguera after spring break.
“Unfortunately, a calculation error was made in the original proposal/contract which resulted in an underfunded contract,” reads Noguera's memo. “In order to reduce the impact of the original miscalculation and wrong number of schools, we significantly reduced the cost per review from what it would have been based on the assumptions agreed in the original proposal.”
In June, the school board discussed bringing on Noguera in an attempt to curb achievement gaps that persist across racial and socioeconomic lines. His original $110,000 contract was approved in September.
Noguera gave the keynote speech at the district's convocation at the beginning of the school year, saying solutions to the problem must be comprehensive.
“We can't just focus on what happens in the classroom,” he said. “It's absolutely important, but it's also important what's happening outside in the community, especially for kids with more disadvantaged circumstances.”
The hiring of Noguera was met by a mixture of hope and cynicism. Although some stakeholders were encouraged by the district's attempt to address equity issues, others said the problems are too systemic to be solved by one consultant.
The district's achievement gaps were painted in stark terms on recent state tests. In English, pass rates ranged from 45 percent for African-American students and 48 percent for Hispanic students to 78 percent for white students and 83 percent for Asians. Similarly, just 30 percent of black SMMUSD test-takers and 33 percent of Latino students met or exceeded standards in math, while white and Asian students' rates stood at 69 percent and 77 percent, respectively.
