Whatever the trustees of the Gilroy Unified School District
decide is fair compensation for the new superintendent, when it
comes time to make a job offer the compensation package should
clearly tie earnings to performance.
Whatever the trustees of the Gilroy Unified School District decide is fair compensation for the new superintendent, when it comes time to make a job offer the compensation package should clearly tie earnings to performance. With the district’s focus on accountability, with students’ grades tied to performance, with the district and teacher’s union exploring a performance-based bonus system, it would be foolhardy to do otherwise.
The superintendent’s compensation package should set the table, so to speak, for performance-based pay throughout the school district.
The board should make it clear to the consulting firm weeding through the candidates that in order to be strongly considered, a candidate must not only accept a performance-based package, but embrace the idea. That notion has the potential to run counter to what the board has asked for – a person “who has previous classroom experience.”
But not all – or even most – classroom teachers bristle at the notion of merit pay, or compensation based on performance, and Gilroy needs a leader who can champion the movement in incremental steps.
The salary of $187,000 – which is what the board has said is approximately what the new GUSD superintendent will earn – is fair given the responsibilities that the person who fills that position will bear.
That figure can be augmented, of course, with car allowances, various bonuses and generous benefits. The district should also attempt to protect itself with a reasonable buy-out clause if the board decides it made a bad hiring decision.
In addition, clauses in the new superintendent’s contract should be included that penalize raiding current district staff when he or she leaves the district, that discourage middle-of-the-school-year departures and that ease the financial burden on the district if the superintendent needs to be removed. Balancing those with performance and longevity bonuses should be items which are negotiated carefully and thoroughly.
Hiring the right person at the top is critically important. The superintendent must have the savvy to deal with the politics at City Hall, the expertise to get teachers and principals to support change within the system and the charisma to be a leader in our community.
The board has been careful and wise thus far in the search process, and, hopefully, the search will yield a bumper crop of candidates and the decision to be made will be a difficult one.
