When the South Coast Education Service District Board of Directors voted to terminate the contract of Superintendent Rick Howell, it agreed to pay a lump sum of $125,000 to Howell and pick up his health insurance costs until he begins receiving Medicare benefits.

As Finance Director Teri Pointer noted, there are a number of variables in that equation.

On top of the $125,000 gross sum, the district will be responsible for an additional $50,000 in employer costs. Both these figures are fixed. But it is difficult to predict how much insurance benefits will cost the district over an unknown number of years.

Pointer noted that if Howell were to become disabled, he might qualify for Medicare before he turns 65. Conversely, federal statues might increase the age for Medicare eligibility, extending the district's responsibilities to Howell. Rather than try to predict the future, Pointer took the superintendent's current benefit package and multiplied it by six, the number of years until Howell turns 65.

That figure came to about $71,000, leaving the district responsible for paying about $246,000 for an administrator who will leave on June 30.