Community Unit School District 308’s Superintendent Matthew Wendt and dozens of other administrators will be getting salary increases in the coming school year, after the School Board voted Monday to approve contracts totaling $335,000 in raises.
The approval came after a handful of residents from the Oswego-based district spoke out against pay raises for Wendt and other top officials who were already under multi-year contracts.
Residents said the School Board should have waited until three new members — two of whom said in candidate forums that they’d like to reevaluate administrator pay — were seated in early May to tackle the contracts.
Wendt will receive a $25,000 bump in his base salary, up to $250,000 next school year — the same rate, as one resident pointed out, that Chicago Public Schools’ leader makes.
The new contract also eliminates the potential for Wendt to earn up to $160,000 in merit-based bonuses over the next four years.
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School Board President Bill Walsh said the renegotiation could end up saving the district $60,000 in the long run, assuming under the old contract Wendt earned all his bonuses and never received a base salary increase.
Ivonne Furneaux, of Oswego, was among the residents who spoke out against the superintendent’s pay raise and questioned whether the board was trying to “pull a fast one.”
“If you take the money, know that each of those extra $25,000 in your pocket will further directly negatively impact the opinions of you held by parents, teachers and citizens,” Furneaux said. “I challenge you to regain the trust of this community.”
The School Board also approved $5,000 raises for John Sparlin and Judith Minor, the assistant superintendents who oversee administrative services and teaching and learning. They will be paid a salary of $160,000 in the coming school year and their contracts were extended by one year to June 2018.
Both Sparlin and Minor’s potential to earn bonuses in the coming two school years was eliminated, but their new contracts say they met all their performance goals in the 2014-15 school year — entitling them to $7,200 in bonuses each this year.
Wendt removed from consideration a new contract for Paul O’Malley, the associate superintendent who oversaw district finances. He was expected to receive a contract extension through June 2018 and a $5,000 pay increase to $185,000 for the coming school year.
As of July 1, O’Malley will be the superintendent of Norridge School District 80, a two-school district that recently posted an expected salary for its incoming leader of $171,600.
Wendt said the district would post an opening for an assistant superintendent for business services and chief financial officer on Tuesday. With O’Malley’s departure, Wendt plans to reorganize his district leadership chart in the coming weeks.
Walsh said the board mutually agreed to let O’Malley out of his contract. He’s still eligible to receive $7,200 in bonuses for this year. His newly drafted contract said he accomplished all his performance goals.
The School Board voted 6-1 in favor of Wendt, Minor and Sparlin’s contracts — with Matt Bauman voting against the contracts — and unanimously in favor of the $300,000 in raises for principals, assistant principals, deans, athletic directors and central office directors and assistant directors.
Bauman had said previously he didn’t think it was time to renegotiate top administrator contracts.
The pay raises for building and central office leaders are part of a multi-year staffing plan aimed at making administrator pay more competitive and attracting and keeping quality employees. A study done a year and a half ago by a consultant showed elementary and middle school principals in the district most needed raises.
Wendt said the School Board wasn’t trying to approve raises “in the last hour.”
Contract approvals were moved up to April, he said, in an attempt to lock in talent before summer break. In the past, he said, contract decisions for non-union employees were made at the end of the school year and over the summer, which could cause the district to lose staff to other districts.
The board asked him three years ago, he said, to move up contract-drafting timelines.
“There is no… plan or conspiracy to leave anybody out,” Wendt said.