Pueblo City Schools (D60) Superintendent Charlotte Macaluso will serve the district for at least two more years.

During last week's special meeting of the D60 board of education, the board unanimously amended Macaluso's contract, extending it through June 30, 2021. The amendment also includes a salary bump to $185,000 from $180,000, effective July 1.

She also is entitled to 20 days of vacation within the 220-day work year.

The amendment approval came following a work session that lasted nearly six hours.

Macaluso's current contact is set to expire on June 30. In light of this fact, board President Barb Clementi said during the meeting that according to "the way superintendent contracts are written," action to amend Macaluso's agreement with the district must be taken by Jan. 30.

"This is absolutely normal," the board president said, adding that Macaluso has, in the eyes of the board, performed her duties desirably.

"Over the last several years, since Mrs. Macaluso has been with us, we've asked a tremendous amount of work and attention from her," Clementi said. "The board is very pleased with the direction of the district and the work that's been done. We know that our superintendent is dealing with a new strategic plan, a facilities assessment and work with the external management issue and all that goes on with the state board, and our declining enrollment.

"All things that are priorities and are difficult, and much more than probably any superintendent in the state has to deal with."

Clementi expressed to Macaluso the board's gratitude for her service.

"And we look forward to another couple years of really good forward movement in the district," she added.

Macaluso said it's an "absolute pleasure to serve this board and this district, and certainly an honor to serve our community. I attribute much of the work to my tremendous team and I look forward to the next couple of years. We have a lot of work to accomplish."

In addition to overseeing the master plan and facilities assessment — which will culminate with Macaluso recommending to the board an option that may include school closures and consolidations — she was at the helm during the district's historic teachers strike, which shuttered schools for five days last spring.

Macaluso was appointed as superintendent on Feb. 13, 2017, replacing Constance Jones, and given a contract ending June 30, 2019.

Suzanne Ethredge, president of the Pueblo Education Association, said the teachers union has "serious concerns about the timing and transparency" of the amendment's adoption.

"This amount of a salary increase coming on the heels of the announcement of potential school closures is shocking," Ethredge said. "The fact that the board chose to approve this contract as part of the consent agenda and then announce it at the end of the meeting, without giving the full amount of the increase publicly, continues to show a lack of transparency to this community."

Agreeing that the superintendent has faced serious issues, Ethredge added, "So have our teachers. The demands on our teachers continually increase, yet it took a strike for them to receive a cost of living increase last year. The association is also highly concerned that a superintendent that has potentially the worst communication with her employees is rewarded this way."

jpompia@chieftain.com