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Californian investigation: The pay and perks of school superintendents
| Saturday, Jun 28 2008 9:00 PM
Last Updated: Monday, Jun 30 2008 10:35 AM
After Monday, Edison School District will no longer have to pay a superintendent who hasn’t performed her duties since November.
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The Californian requested public records, including employment contracts, investigation documentation, policies and other data from all 47 Kern County school districts beginning in January 2008 and continuing through April.
Two of the county’s smallest districts do not have direct superintendents but are administered by the Kern County Superintendent of Schools.
In the months that passed between data collection and publication, some information may have changed.
National average 2006-2007 superintendent salaries:
All: $121,155
25,000 or more: $200,751
10,000 to 24,999: $160,047
2,500 to 9,999: $135,635
300 to 2,499: $109,245
Source: The American Association of School Administrators Web site, which says it obtained the data from the Educational Research Service
California average 2006-2007 superintendent salaries:
Statewide: $143,700
Elementary: $128,132
High School: $156,676
Unified: $160,290
Source: California Department of Education
Cheri Sanders, who’d been with the district a little more than a year before being put on administrative leave and eventually resigning, misused district funds by using a district credit card to purchase $100 worth of alcohol at a conference, among several other offenses, an investigation found.
But Sanders kept being paid under a common clause in her agreement. It was estimated she would amass about $80,000 while someone else picked up after her.
The incident outraged some citizens and prompted The Californian to re-examine the county’s 45 schools chiefs’ contracts.
It found that Sanders’ contract was not unusual. Most superintendents could be bought out for up to 18 months of their contract in some circumstances if the district wants to cut ties.
Districts may see it as a bargain because it sidesteps legal fees for pursuing a court ruling to sever the contract, said Joe Cirasuolo, chief operating officer of the American Association of School Administrators.
And these arrangements give some level of protection to superintendents who often face short contracts, typically two or three years, he said.
Superintendents across the country stay in one place an average of seven years, Cirasuolo said, three years in urban districts. In Kern County, about 75 percent of the superintendents were not in their current position in 2002.
SUPER-PAY
Hired by boards of trustees, superintendents manage district staff, which can number in the thousands, and oversee multi-million dollar budgets.
Most of Kern’s superintendents earn six-figure salaries or close to it. But that pay doesn’t necessarily mean they have reached the top of the charts.
On a nationwide scale that examined averages based on district size but not type, Kern County superintendents fall just about evenly on both sides of the salary averages.
On a different, statewide data set that compared district types instead of size, about three quarters earn less than their peers.
The following is a breakdown when district types are compared. These figures, provided by the state education department, do not take into account district size.
• Eight superintendents earn more than the state average of $143,700.
• 24 of Kern’s 33 elementary district superintendents earn less than the $128,132 average.
• Two of the four high school district superintendents earn less than the $156,676 average.
• All eight unified district superintendents earn less than the $160,290 average.
• 31 superintendents earn six figures.
• $71,000 was the lowest salary, for Caliente, whose district serves about 100 students.
EARNING EVERY PENNY
The county’s highest paid superintendent heads the county’s biggest district. At $231,111 including bonuses, Kern High School District’s Don Carter is the only one to surpass the $200,000 mark.
And if trustee Bob Hampton had his way, Carter would rake in more.
“I want to be number one (in the state) in the salary we pay our superintendents,” Hampton said. “Because it’s the toughest job in America, public education today, and to find good people you’ve got to pay them. We could always be higher in my opinion.”
Carter is responsible for 26 schools that serve more than 40,000 students, manages about 4,100 and a budget of more than $500 million.
Contrast his pay with a CEO of a similarly sized private-sector business and ... “Jiminy Christmas, $200,000 is peanuts,” Hampton said.
Similar to other private-sector perks, superintendent benefits don’t stop with the dollar.
Most of these district officials receive hundreds a month for transportation allowance or have the privilege of logging miles on district-owned cars.
KHSD and Fruitvale topped at $700 or more for their transportation each month. Some, like Elk Hills, fill up the tanks of those district cars as well.