Top educators' pay scrutinized when budgets are slashed

The new superintendent of Lewis-Palmer School District 38 will be paid $148,000. The administrator he replaces made $165,000, and an interim superintendent who filled in this year received $125,000.

So why the differences for doing the same job?

It’s complicated. And even moreso if you compare salaries of superintendents in El Paso County, or across the state.

School board members — the people who hire and fire superintendents and negotiate their salaries — often have constituents railing at them about pay for top executives. They say it usually goes something like this: Why don’t you cut the salary of the superintendent and use the money for...(fill in the blank with whatever budget item is being discussed).

Such concerns were behind an effort to recall four board members in Ellicott School District 22, says Ernest Hudson, who supported last year’s failed recall. The superintendent makes $108,000, a jump of $4,000. “People were upset because other salaries eventually were frozen,” Hudson says.  

Board members did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Such complaints have increased as budgets are slashed in light of several years of state education cuts, including an expected cut of at least $250 million to next year’s K-12 budget.

“Pointing fingers at superintendents is natural in tough budget times,” says Bruce Caughey, executive director of Colorado Association of School Executives. “But in these times you want someone with the fortitude to make the tough decisions.”

Some states, however, have taken unusual measures. In New York, where a billion dollars is being cut from school aid, the governor has legislation to cap superintendents’ pay. The largest would be capped at $175,000, the small districts at $125,000, according to The New York Times. In New Jersey, a similar cap went into effect in February.

In Colorado, no such caps have been suggested, said state Sen. Keith King, R-Colorado Springs. “We leave that to local control. We set the money and they decide how to spend it.”

A survey by Salary.com says the national average for superintendent salaries is $168,000, with $90,000 on the low end and $195,000 on the high end.

Colorado Department of Education reports the lowest superintendent salary in Colorado is $41,200 in the rural Platte Valley School District Re-3 in Sedgwick County in the far northeast corner of the state. It has 120 students and a budget of $1.2 million.

The highest salary is $220,000, paid to the superintendent of Cherry Creek School District 5.  Cherry Creek has 50,000 students and a $413 million budget.

While student enrollment is important, it is not the sole determination of salary. Criteria also includes such things as budget, number of employees, duties and special challenges. Also considered are experience, education (some have PhDs), and special expertise, such as inner city experience.

In Lewis-Palmer D-38, compensation for the new superintendent was budget-driven, says board president John Mann.

John Borman, who has been principal of Lewis-Palmer High School since 2007 and who has no superintendent experience, takes over July 1. The job was advertised for $145,000. His contract is for $148,000 and he’ll get 21 days of vacation, health benefits, 12 days of sick leave and reimbursement of reasonable expenses.

Some top executive packages also include bonus pay and use of district vehicles.

Former D-38 superintendent Raymond Blanch, who resigned, had a doctorate but no experience as a superintendent. (Blanch is now top executive in Somers Central School District in New York, making $225,000 with increases that will reach $260,000 by 2016, according to lohud.com. The district has 3,453 students and a budget of $78.9 million.)

Mann says they would pay Borman more if they could. “We are one of the top districts, and everyone is working harder than ever, but we can’t pay our staff members what they are worth,” said Mann. “We have no choice. The state cuts in education are forcing us into these salary positions.”

Lewis-Palmer, in Monument, has 5,500 students and a general fund budget of $38 million. 
The district is “accredited with distinction,” an award given to districts in the top 10 percent for student growth, achievement, workplace readiness and postsecondary preparation.

Such academic achievement or lack thereof also drives salaries.

Higher salaries also are often awarded in challenging districts.

In urban Harrison School District 2, Superintendent Mike Miles makes $194,614. Board members have taken heat for that.

“Frankly with the challenges our district has we wanted to make sure that pay is commensurate with the job we are asking him to do, and it is work that some superintendents couldn’t or wouldn’t want to tackle,” says board president Deborah Hendrix.

More than 70 percent of the 10,400 students are at-risk and low income, and drop out rates are high. D-2 was on state academic probation at the time Miles was hired, but is now off it. He and the board instituted a controversial pay-for-performance plan, and are making other innovative changes, such as creating an academy for at-risk 8th-graders and holding back third-graders who can’t read.

Colorado Springs School District 11 also sees value in paying well.

“We aren’t shy about pay,” says board president Tom Strand. “Our impact on Colorado Springs is incredible. We have a bigger budget than the city or county government and employ more people.”

D-11 superintendent Nicholas Gledich (whose salary is $180,000 with potential for incentives of up to $40,000 a year) oversees three deputy superintendents, approximately 6,000 employees, 29,000 students, and an operating budget of about $250,000 million.

It’s different in the small rural districts on the plains, where superintendents must be jacks of all trades, and where budgets are comparatively tiny.

Superintendent Tim Kistler is paid $96,400 for heading up Peyton School District 23- JT.

Besides regular superintendent duties, he does all the things that assistant superintendents and other administrators do in larger districts, such as oversee curriculum. He also hires the teachers, sometimes drives the school bus, picks up furniture that is donated to the district, and last summer even removed floor tiles from a modular building.

Some superintendents have voluntarily shunned bonuses and pay raises during the economic downturn.

Walt Cooper, superintendent of Cheyenne Mountain D-12 since 2005, voluntarily froze his  salary at $162,700 in 2008 and it hasn’t been raised. Since then, other staff salaries have been frozen.

“At the time in 2008, we had to close a school and were making other deep financial cuts, and I didn’t think it was appropriate for me to get an increase,” Cooper says. “It was just the right thing to do.”

Super salaries

Here’s a sampling of superintendent salaries at districts in the Pikes Peak region. General fund budget figures are for 2010-11:

Academy D-20
Supt. Mark Hatchell
Salary: $197,960
Students: 23,119
Budget: $193.5 million

Cheyenne Mountain D-12
Supt. Walt Cooper
Salary: $162,700
Students: 4,561
Budget: $30 million

Colorado Springs D-11
Supt. Nicholas Gledich
Salary: $180,00
Incentive pay: up to $40,000
Students: 29,459
Budget: $233.2 million

Ellicott D-22
Supt. Terry Ebert
Salary: $108,000
Students: 1,003
Budget: $2.5 million

Falcon D-49:
Supt. Bradley Schoeppy
Salary: $180,000
Bonus: Up to $30,000
Students: 14,708
Budget: $91.3 million

Fountain-Fort Carson D-8
Supt. Cheryl Serrano
Salary: $172,224
Students: 7,536
Budget: $56.8 million

Harrison D-2
Supt: Mike Miles
Salary: $194,616
Bonus:  up to $35,000 yearly
Students: 11,147
Budget: $73.9 million

Peyton D-23-Jt
Supt. Tim Kistler
Salary: $96,400
Students: 664
Budget: $6 million

Widefield D-3
Supt. Joe Royer
Salary: $165,000
Students: 8,500
Budget: $60 million