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Board approves salary-schedule revisions and two deputy superintendent employment agreements after public comment on equity and transparency
Summary
Trustees approved a revised administrator salary schedule and converted two deputy-superintendent roles to contracts; a union representative and several trustees discussed equity concerns and the need to retain senior leadership.
The board voted to approve a revision to the administrator salary schedule and to place the deputy-superintendent positions on individual employment agreements in votes the superintendent’s HR director presented as actions to promote retention and stability.
Dana Luhan told trustees the salary-schedule revision is intended to redesign administrator pay “to ideally promote retention.” The presentation said the revision includes a reclassification of the director of bond projects and construction and alignment with prior reclassification work.
During public comment, Bernadina Arias, a training assistant in the district’s adult transition program and a member of the union executive board, urged the board to consider equity and transparency. “Where did the administration find the additional $95,000 to pay themselves this school year between the $40,000 increases for both deputy superintendents and the $15,000 of increases for all other administrators under the new pay scale,” she asked. She said the district had previously told staff it could not fund new positions or raises beyond 4 percent and raised concerns that classified staff pay and benefits were being overlooked.
Board members responded to the public comment by emphasizing the goal of retaining leadership. One trustee said the district’s administrators have historically been paid toward the lower end of comparable districts and that turnover at the site level had been disruptive. Another trustee said keeping senior leadership in place reduces the hidden costs of turnover and protects continuity for students.
What the board did: a board member moved to approve the salary-schedule revision; after public comment the board approved the revision by voice vote. Trustees also voted to remove the deputy superintendent of business services and the deputy superintendent of educational services from the administrator salary schedule and approve individual employment agreements for each position. There was no roll-call tally recorded in the transcript; motions passed by voice vote.
Clarifying context from the meeting: the presenter said the salary changes included a $40,000 increase for each deputy superintendent and $15,000 increases for other administrators under the new schedule and that, overall, the package represented approximately $95,000 in additional compensation for the current year, as described by the public commenter. The board discussed structural funding gaps compared with neighboring districts and mentioned the district’s lower property-tax base as a driver of long-term revenue challenges.
Next steps: HR staff will implement the revised salary schedule and execute the employment agreements for the two deputy superintendents. The board did not indicate further changes to classified-staff schedules during the meeting.
