The Clovis Unified Board of Trustees voted unanimously Wednesday evening to approve a contract for new superintendent Dr. Corrine Folmer.

The terms of the contract are the same as her predecessor’s, Superintendent Dr. Eimear O’Brien: A base annual salary of $286,760 with an 8.25% increase on top of the base because she has been employed by Clovis Unified for more than 10 years.

The four-year contract will start on July 1.

Board President David DeFrank said trustees agreed that Dr. Folmer’s contract and compensation should match Dr. O’Brien’s, even though Dr. Folmer doesn’t have the same level of experience yet.

The board voted in recent years to raise O’Brien’s salary after a compensation analysis showed that O’Brien’s compensation was on the lower end among superintendents.

“So we didn’t feel like it would be appropriate to adjust that down or anything like that. And we have full confidence in Dr. Folmer to perform the job. And so we feel like this was the appropriate contract,” DeFrank said after the board meeting.

Family Obligations

Dr. O’Brien, who took the helm in 2017 and whose contract was not due to expire before June 2024, announced in January her plans to retire at the end of the current school  year so she could have more time with her aging mother back home in Ireland.

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District officials conducted a two-month search that culminated with the board’s vote at a special meeting last week to select Dr. Folmer as O’Brien’s successor.

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Dr. Folmer, 44, is currently working as an associate superintendent for the district.

Like many Clovis Unified administrators and staffers, she is a product of the district and was named to the Clovis Unified Hall of Fame as a member of the 1994 Buchanan High School girls cross country team that claimed the state title — the first girls state championship in the district’s history.

Dr. Corrine Folmer’s Contract