Superintendents skip the raises

'Inappropriate' to accept pay hike



School district superintendents in the area have postponed receiving personal raises due to the state budget crisis that is forcing schools to cut programs, staff and services.

Only the superintendent at Oak Park Unified School District received a pay raise this year.

Donald Zimring, superintendent of Las Virgenes Unified School District, said at a Sept. 23 board of education meeting that he wanted to “defer any raise until such time as our fiscal picture and financial picture is a bit better.”

The school board entered into a three-year contract with Zimring on July 1, 2007, which provided for annual raises if he receives a positive evaluation and if teachers and classified employees also received a pay hike.

The state’s fiscal crisis has created so much budget uncertainty that to accept a pay raise would be “inappropriate,” Zimring said.

The board amended Zimring’s contract to defer a raise until enough resources are available. When granted, the raise will be retroactive to the first day of the applicable fiscal year, the new contract said.

“In light of the economic situation of this state and facing the school district, I cannot in good conscience accept a raise in this year,” Zimring said.

Zimring earns $188,000 per year and receives a permile reimbursement for approximately 400 miles traveled each month, or about $200.

Zimring and board members will negotiate the terms of his contract in June 2009.

Oak Park says yes

By a 3-2 vote of the Oak Park school board on June 16, Oak Park Superintendent Tony Knight was granted a 3.25 percent raise retroactive to the 2007-08 school year. He also received an 8.7 percent raise in June 2007.

“This was the year that my contract was renewed, and the raise represented the amount that the teachers received in the 2006-07 school year, plus an additional amount equal to an anniversary increment,” Knight said.

Knight said all Oak Park teachers, administrators, classified employees, yard supervisors and substitute teachers received raises this year.

Board members Marie Panec and Jan Iceland opposed the pay increase, but board President Cindy Vinson and board members Mary Rees and Barbara Laifman voted in favor of Knight’s raise because research showed that he is paid less than other superintendents from similar districts.

Knight’s yearly salary of $164,875 includes a $10,000 annual doctorate stipend. He also received a bump in his monthly gas allotment, from $600 to $700 per month, bringing his total compensation package, minus health and retirement benefits, to $173,275.

The Oak Park district is less than half the size of Las Virgenes.

“We are still in the process of analyzing the new state budget and its impact on our schools,” Knight said.

Mario Contini, superintendent of the Conejo Unified School District, said that he did not ask for, and does not have, a contract with an automatic salary increase.

Contini earns $175,000 base salary and an additional $700 per month for travel and gas.

In May 2008, Contini and the Conejo school board identified 27.8 percent reductions in acrossthe-board operating costs. Contini and the board cut costs, programs and services for an annual savings of $552,000.

The Simi Valley Unified School District Board of Education did not approve pay raises for any employees this year, said Superintendent Kathryn Scroggin.

“We also received no requests for pay raises from either of our employee associations,” Scroggin said.

Scroggin earns $206,000 per year, with a $650 monthly car allowance. Of the 298 school districts in California, Simi Valley ranks 285th in terms of administrator salary expense per ADA (Average Daily Attendance), she said.

Scroggin said when she left her previous position as assistant superintendent for educational services to take the helm as superintendent, the district did not fill her post.

She said superintendent salaries are determined by enrollment. The Conejo and Simi Valley school districts are the largest in Ventura County .

“Based on the most current state of the budget, we will be reconvening our budget study committee to develop a list of potential reductions for consideration by our board,” Scroggin said. “This proactive step is being taken in preparation for the potential of midyear cuts.”


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