A second check, also for $4,980.84, was cut on July 2, 2009, shortly after a new fiscal year began.
A third payout of $12,452.11 - the equivalent of 10 days' salary - was made on Dec. 4, 2009.
Ackerman had already received payment for four days for each of the two school years in which she had served, ostensibly making the payment an advance. Her contract with the district has no language that allows for an advance of vacation pay.
The contract states that "the school district will reimburse Dr. Ackerman annually for up to four (4) unused days of vacation at her daily rate based on her then annual salary."
When the new fiscal year began on July 1, Ackerman would have become eligible for four of the 10 days paid out in December 2009. The remaining six days will not be earned until 2012 and 2013.
At her current salary, six days' vacation pay amounts to $7,471.26.
The vacation pay comes on top of Ackerman's $338,000 annual salary and the $65,000 performance bonus she was paid this spring. If she stays through June, she gets a $100,000 retention bonus.
In response to Inquirer questions about the payments, general counsel Michael A. Davis gave a statement.
Davis wrote that Ackerman's contract allows her to receive reimbursement for 20 days over the life of the contract, which expires June 30, 2013.
"This option was provided to Dr. Ackerman in recognition of the fact that she would only use a fraction of her vacation days," Davis wrote.
When she got the payment, "Dr. Ackerman was advised that, if she should leave prior to June 30, 2013, she may owe the school district a reconciling payment for the vacation days reimbursed in advance at that time," he said.
Robert L. Archie, chair of the School Reform Commission, said he agreed with Davis.
