LAWNDALE, Calif. – We’ve reported on the obscene earnings of school leaders before, but the case of Superintendent Jose Fernandez is the only one we’re aware of that’s drawn interest from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

RedlandsDailyFacts.com reports the “FBI is beginning to probe the activities of the Centinela Valley high school district at a time when the (school) board has vowed to do a full investigation in the wake of” Fernandez’s placement on paid leave this week.

In typical fashion, FBI officials won’t confirm the investigation, but it’s believed the feds are looking into how Fernandez was able earn “more than double that of his peers in neighboring South Bay districts” in 2013, DailyBreeze.com reports.

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Last year, the school leader’s total compensation reached $663,000. That’s not shabby for overseeing a district that’s comprised of a mere 6,600 students. By comparison, the superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District – the second-largest district in the nation – earned $339,106 in base salary last year.

Fernandez’s financial goodies weren’t limited to a generous paycheck, however. The school chief was “also allowed to take a low-interest, $910,000 loan from the district to purchase a home in Ladera Heights,” reports DailyBreeze.com, the news site that originally broke the story of the superintendent’s super-duper salary.

In response to the growing public outrage – and potentially by the sudden interest from federal investigators – the Centinela school board met behind closed doors for three hours on Wednesday night to discuss the matter. By the evening’s end, the board had voted 5-0 to put Fernandez on paid leave while an investigation is conducted of his outrageous pay package.

One resident pointed out the silliness of putting Fernandez on paid leave.

“Just putting him on paid leave – he can sit at home and you’re paying him? Fire him,” said resident Kristel Lindner.

The outrage of Fernandez’s pay is all well and good for school board members to do, but taxpayers shouldn’t leave members unaccountable for their role in all this.

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DailyBreeze.com reports that Fernandez’s contract “was initially approved by the school board in late 2009. Four members of that board – (Maritza) Molina, Hugo Rojas, Gloria Ramos and Rocio Pizano – are still on the panel, and voted Wednesday to put Fernandez on leave.”

This raises some obvious questions for taxpayers to ask those four board members, primarily: “Did you not understand the financial implications of the contract you agreed to give Fernandez?”

There’s no good way they can answer that question.

If board members knew that Fernandez’s deal was larded up with all kinds of expensive clauses, then why in the world did they approve it? Aren’t they just as responsible for this outrage as Fernandez is?

One could argue the board is even more responsible than Fernandez. After all, how many Americans would turn down a rich contract that was willingly offered to them? We suspect most people would have done the same thing Fernandez did.

Now, if board members didn’t understand what they were doing when they agreed to Fernandez’s over-the-top contract, then they’re certainly not competent to run a school district. That’s self-evident.

So regardless of whether the board acted in stupidity or ignorance, taxpayers should demand the four members’ resignation.

The brouhaha in the Centinela Valley district is very interesting, but unfortunately it’s not too unusual. The K-12 country club mentality – adults taking financial care of one another – is alive and well all across the nation. EAGnews has reported on numerous superintendent contracts that are loaded up with expensive goodies, even while school districts lay off teachers and cut student programs.

It just so happens that Fernandez’s deal is the worst we’ve seen.

But make no mistake: this problem is bad and it’s nationwide.

It’s time for taxpayers and watchdog reporters to wake up.