San Diego Unified interim superintendent Fabiola Bagula will make $433,125 per year under a new contract the school board approved Tuesday evening. That’s the same annual salary that superintendent Lamont Jackson was paid before he was terminated in August, after the board found sexual misconduct allegations against him to be credible. Bagula, who had been Jackson’s deputy superintendent for more than two years, was confirmed by the board as the interim superintendent on Sept. 10. Bagula had previously been a principal and area superintendent in the district, and before becoming deputy superintendent was equity director at the San Diego County Office of Education. Her contract covers a six-month period from Sept. 10 of this year to March 10, 2025. On top of the base salary, the contract includes a monthly $1,250 car allowance and reimbursement for travel, meal, cell phone and other expenses. Per the contract, if Bagula’s contract expires or if the board votes to terminate the contract without cause, then she has the right to return to her previous job as deputy superintendent. School board trustees say they believe Bagula remains the best person to lead the district after a former district administrator accused her of misconduct in one of two legal claims recently filed against San Diego Unified. It was in those claims that two former administrators, Monika Hazel and Tavga Bustani, accused Jackson of quid pro quo sexual harassment and other misconduct. In her claim, Hazel also lodged specific allegations at Bagula: She accused Bagula of telling Hazel to speak to her in a “baby girl” voice while cowering towards her and of making a racist comment by saying that another person had “White-womaned” her. Asked last month about those allegations, Bagula said a board-commissioned investigation into claims about Jackson and herself had not found that she had mistreated employees. “I take these allegations very seriously because I understand the impact they can have on the individuals involved, our district employees, and our broader community,” Bagula said in an email. “These claims were rigorously investigated by an independent, third-party legal firm, and the findings were clear: there was no evidence of mistreatment or hostile behavior on my part.” Bagula said she did apologize for one comment referenced in Hazel’s claim. According to board members, Bagula and other district staff had been on a Zoom call with an outside vendor; after the call, Bagula told district staff she had been “White-womaned” by the vendor. Once she realized the comment “could be perceived as derogatory,” Bagula said she took “immediate responsibility” by apologizing and reporting the incident. “I understand that leadership must constantly be open to reflection and improvement, and that’s exactly what I have done — and will continue to do — as I reflect on this particular incident,” Bagula said. Board members said they had talked with Bagula about her actions, and while they said she had erred and made an insensitive comment, it doesn’t diminish their faith in her to lead the district. “I have no concerns about her leadership at this point,” school Board President Shana Hazan said in an interview. “We all say things that, if we could do it over again, we wouldn’t, and I think as a leader she has demonstrated her willingness to accept responsibility when she’s made mistakes, to apologize when she’s made mistakes.” Bagula told The San Diego Union-Tribune in an interview last month that she is focusing on two priorities as interim superintendent: implementing the district’s newly-adopted student outcome goals and addressing its budget deficit. In June the district had projected it would need to close a $176 million deficit in its unrestricted general fund for next school year. It has already swallowed a $114 million deficit for this current school year. “I’m actually really paying attention to this, this very large number that’s very public, and thinking about, ‘How do we then start making decisions about how to mitigate this without it impacting students in classrooms?’” Bagula said. For more than a year, the school board and district leadership have been working on developing goals for the district to achieve by 2030. They aim to raise the district’s average state standardized test scores in English from 6.9 points above standard to 24.9 points above standard and in math from 24.1 points below standard to 6.1 points below standard. The district also wants to boost college and career preparedness of graduating students from 60% to 72%. And it has set goals to improve communication and students’ extracurricular participation, among other things. District leaders have said Bagula has been key to developing those goals and will lead their implementation. To do that, she said she has been starting by creating dashboards of performance data for schools that she plans to make publicly available. She has also had area superintendents train in how to supervise principals, added staff who are coaching principals and is working on new math assessments. Bagula said she doesn’t want the events of Jackson’s firing to distract from the work of the district. “My hope is that families didn’t even know, didn’t feel it, they’re going to keep dropping off their child, trusting the teacher, and we’re going to continue moving forward,” Bagula said. “My biggest piece is around stability … There’s lots of work to do already, and so I don’t want to over-complicate public education with any adult drama. It should actually be about children.” The board has not yet officially set how it will go about appointing a permanent new superintendent. But multiple board members have suggested they consider Bagula the best person to serve in the role and would not be willing to launch another extensive search process like they did with the one that resulted in Jackson’s hiring. Bagula said she is interested in the job and brings experiences working both inside and outside the district. “San Diego Unified has invested in me, and I also hope to give a return on their investment. I do think I have a lot of value,” Bagula said.