While public schools struggle under revenue reductions and budget cuts, one line item, with just a few exceptions, has remained untouched in San Mateo County: superintendent salaries.
The state budget signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last month slashed an estimated $6 billion from California’s schools, including cuts to funding and programs for teachers.
Already challenged by rising costs, San Mateo County school districts were forced to pass budgets filled with reductions that included increases to class sizes, reduction in classroom support staff and boosts to school lunch prices, among other cost-saving measures.
In response to such fiscal concerns, the Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury recently released a report that chastised districts for superintendent salaries, noting: “Despite the draconian budget cuts facing the schools in the coming months, there appears to be little inclination on the part of the districts to reduce or even limit the amounts paid” to superintendents and other school officials.
In Santa Clara County, the average salary for a superintendent, not including benefits, was $192,368 per year.
In San Mateo County, a survey of the school districts for the largest cities revealed a range in salaries from $150,000 to $205,000 a year, with San Mateo Union High School District Superintendent Scott Laurence earning the top dollar.
Peter Hanley, president of the San Mateo Union High School District board of trustees, defended Laurence’s salary, noting that the superintendent oversees a $100 million operational budget, $300 million in construction bonds and ensures the education of thousands of students each year.
“You need someone with god-like qualities,” Hanley said. “Superintendent jobs are so difficult and demanding you need someone who can do a little bit of everything.”
Guadalupe Ortiz, 23, an Aragon High School graduate who went on to get her bachelor’s degree in political science at UC Berkeley and is now running for the SMUHSD board, said Laurence’s salary sounded “a bit excessive.” She added that if she were on the board, she’d look to see how he was doing before suggesting any salary changes.
A new perspective is provided on Laurence’s salary when it is measured against the district’s total 8,549 students: Although still among the highest, at about $23.98 per student, it’s less than the $31.90 per student paid to Jefferson Union High School District Superintendent Michael Crilly. And it’s considerably lower than the $59.31 per student cost paid to Burlingame Elementary School District Superintendent Dianne Talarico, who earns $150,000 for overseeing the 2,529-student district.
Such calculations also reveal that the much higher salary of $293,000 provided to San Francisco Unified School District Superintendent Carlos Garcia this school year breaks down to about $5.33 per student, when divided by the district’s 55,000 students.
San Mateo-Foster City School District, which approved a budget with $5.9 million in reductions for this fiscal year, pays its school chief, Pendery Clark, $175,000 a year, according to district data — but with that district having the highest school enrollment of all the county districts, the salary works out to about $16.92 per student.
Newly hired South San Francisco Unified School District Superintendent Howard Cohen has a salary that hits just below the average for the larger city school districts: $171,289.
Liza Normandy, board president for South San Francisco, said the superintendent manages hundreds of employees, makes decisions regarding curriculum, personnel and the budget, and meets with parents. The superintendent not only leads within the school system, but is also the face of the district to the larger community, she said.
Jan Christensen, the superintendent of Redwood City Elementary School District is also at the midrange level with her $170,000 salary compared with other big-city school districts in the county. The district faced a $5.6 million budget shortfall for 2009-10.
Nationally, the average superintendent salary in 2005-06 was $117,000, according to the most recent nationwide survey of superintendent pay, a study released by the Washington, D.C.-based Council of Great City Schools.
Any salary comparison needs to also consider the location of a district and its cost-of-living, cautioned Brittany McKannay, spokeswoman for the California Teachers Association.
While a six-figure salary might seem high, it’s more appropriate to compare superintendents’ compensation with local businesses, she added.
“Often times [districts] are the largest employer in the city,” McKannay said. “So offering a competitive salary to get the right person and the best leadership is necessary.”
Joe Jones, executive director of the Association of California Administrators, said although some might disagree with the salaries of school superintendents, paying less would result in poorer leadership and less results for students.
“Around the state and around the country these people are making tough decisions,” he said.
Some chiefs voluntarily cutting pay
Several school superintendents in San Mateo County have stepped up to voluntarily relieve their districts of the burden of budgetary woes.
Jefferson Elementary School District made nearly $700,000 in cuts to its budget for this fiscal year. A portion of that came from a five-day furlough taken by Superintendent Matteo Rizzo.
“If we are looking for stability, we are not going to get it from the state,” he said. “Instead we have to take the initiative. At the end of the day I don’t want to make excuses for students not being able to learn because of funding.”
Additionally, Sequoia Union High School District Superintendent Patrick Gemma took a $5,000 pay cut, although that only knocks him out of sharing the top $205,000-salary spot with San Mateo Union High School District school chief Scott Laurence.
Even without a pay cut, Craig Childress, president of the San Mateo Union High School District Teacher’s Association said he didn’t “believe superintendents are paid an inordinate amount.”
How much supes earn
The top salaries of county school districts:
Scott Laurence
District: San Mateo Union High
Salary: $205,000
Enrollment: 8,549
Per-student cost: $23.98
Patrick R. Gemma
District: Sequoia Union High
Salary: $200,000
Enrollment: 8,713
Per-student cost: $22.95
Pendery Clark
District: San Mateo-Foster City
Salary: $175,000
Enrollment: 10,342
Per-student cost: $16.92
Jan Christensen
District: Redwood City Elementary
Salary: $170,000
Enrollment: 8,861
Per-student cost: $19.19
Howard Cohen
District: South San Francisco
Salary: $171,289
Enrollment: 9,368
Per-student cost: $18.28
Michael Crilly
District: Jefferson Union High
Salary: $164,286
Enrollment: 5,150
Per-student cost: $31.90
Matteo Rizzo
District: Jefferson Elementary
Salary: $160,000
Enrollment: 6,725
Per-student cost: $23.79
Dianne Talarico
District: Burlingame Elementary
Salary: $150,000
Enrollment: 2,529
Per-student cost: $59.31
Salary source: San Mateo County school districts
Enrollment source: California Department of Education
