That's how much
McCubbin gets for resigning
Hamilton McCubbin, who abruptly resigned as the chief executive of Kamehameha Schools last week in the midst of accusations of an inappropriate relationship with a female staffer, will be paid $400,000 in a confidential severance package, according to sources close to the negotiations.
McCubbin, 61, was also ordered to vacate by August the Kahala home he and his family have lived in, according to the sources. The home, which according to property records is assessed at $679,000, is owned by Kamehameha Schools.
His May 5 resignation came one week after a second estate inquiry into an alleged inappropriate relationship with a female employee. Both McCubbin and estate officials have declined comment on the investigations.
Beadie Dawson, a close friend of McCubbin, said the agreement includes a silence provision that McCubbin would not respond to allegations against him.
Kekoa Paulsen, a spokesman for the trust, declined to comment on the severance package because it is considered "a personnel matter" and is confidential.
McCubbin, who was hired to reform the scandal-weary school in February 2000, earned $350,240, according to the estate's latest tax return, filed June 30. His departure comes three months after he signed a three-year extension to his contract.
McCubbin could not be reached by telephone or at his Kahala home.
Deputy Attorney General Hugh Jones declined to comment on the package.
Jan Dill, president of Na Pua a ke Ali'i Pauahi, an organization of about 1,000 alumni, teachers and parents, also declined to comment on the package.
"It's time to move on," said Dill. "We've been enmeshed in this battle for the soul of Kamehameha for six years now. McCubbin was part of the reform and brought some needed changes, but what we really need is a cultural change."
McCubbin, a world-renowned expert on early-childhood education, was selected as the first CEO in the 119-year history of Kamehameha Schools, which serves children of Hawaiian ancestry.
RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM
Former Kamehameha Schools chief executive Hamilton McCubbin has been ordered to vacate this Kahala house, owned by the schools, by August.
During the late 1990s, separate investigations by the Internal Revenue Service and the state attorney general into financial misdeeds by the former board of trustees resulted in the 1999 ouster of the trustees.
The scandal triggered a reorganization of the trust, and the probate court ordered that it adopt a CEO management structure that would keep the trustees out of the day-to-day operations of the school.
A 1959 graduate of Kamehameha Schools, McCubbin oversaw the trust's expansion of its educational reach as it opened new campuses on the neighbor islands, reinstituted several early-childhood education programs and discussed a partnership with the state Department of Education to establish charter schools in areas heavily populated by native Hawaiians.
In December 1999, before McCubbin was hired by Kamehameha Schools, the University of Wisconsin paid $85,813 to a female professor to settle her accusations that McCubbin sexually harassed her over a three-year period.
At the time, McCubbin was the dean of the Wisconsin School of Human Ecology.
McCubbin has said that the accusations by Jikyeong Kang were false and said a formal investigation by the university found he was not guilty of misconduct.
At Kamehameha, McCubbin will be replaced by acting CEO Colleen Wong, who has served as the trust's chief legal counsel.
