Stanislaus education pay adjustments bring some big jumps

School administrators are comparing salaries and realizing Stanislaus County pay is on the low side. Their solution: raises.

Districts have adjusted management pay schedules to reflect more competitive numbers, with some eye-popping results.

The Stanislaus County Board of Education in January gave elected Superintendent Tom Changnon a 20.6 percent raise, to $230,000. His compensation now comes in third among superintendents of nine counties of similar size. The increase comes two years after about a 15 percent raise in 2013, raising the Stanislaus pay up from dead last in the group.

Turlock Unified in February gave a boost to its managers, retroactive to July 2014. The hike included a 22 percent raise over five years for assistant superintendents, boosting their eventual pay to $159,657. Superintendent Sonny Da Marto got a $20,000 boost as he retires with a 10.2 percent hike for the school year, pinning his 2014-15 pay at $216,074.

Changnon said other county office administrative pay will be raised to more competitive levels in the next month or so. First on his list was Deputy Superintendent Don Gatti, who got a boost to $207,000 from a salary range at the bottom of the list of counties, about a 34 percent raise.

“We will need to look at comparisons every two to three years so we don’t get too far out of line, so the adjustment doesn’t get so radical – like mine,” Changnon said Friday. “It’s a lot of money, but in the industry, that’s what it is.”

In raising Changnon’s salary, board members cited recent awards won by the county office and noted Changnon is mentoring two new county superintendents, including San Joaquin County Superintendent James Mousalimas, who makes $235,052 a year.

Reached Friday, board Chairwoman Mary Ann Sanders said the goal was to bring up top administrators to competitive salaries. “We hadn’t really focused our attention on what those folks were making for a long time,” Sanders said. “We certainly want to keep the strong people we have, and when the time comes, we want to be able to attract strong candidates to fill those spots.

“I know it’s quite a jump, but I think we all feel real solid about what Tom and Don are doing,” she said.

“Tom is very humble,” said board Vice Chairwoman Kim Spina on Friday. “He more than deserves it.”

The double-digit raises, however, stand in stark contrast to raises for teachers and support staff – though those salaries, too, are rising. Changnon’s raise dwarfs those of his staff. Stanislaus County Office of Education teachers received a 0.5 percent raise and support staff received 1.55 percent this school year.

“Our teachers do very well, looking at Stanislaus County, and that was taken into consideration,” Changnon said. “But when we look at Cabinet level, we look outside the county. That’s where the competition comes from.”

Compared with other teacher salaries statewide, however, the office’s compensation is generous. The average teacher salary across California in 2014 was $71,396. The average salary for Stanislaus County Office of Education teachers was $74,989, plus a $12,000 benefit allowance.

The salary schedule is fifth-highest in the county, according to a union compilation. But the county office serves high-needs special education and expelled students, which requires teachers to have advanced training, pushing them to the top of the pay scale.

In Turlock, administrators’ raises added 5.2 percent this year on top of a new salary schedule. The new scale will push administrative pay to 5 percent above an average figured using pay in the comparably sized Ceres Unified district and in Modesto City Schools, which is roughly twice the size of Turlock.

Modesto City Schools Superintendent Pam Able remains the highest-paid school official in the county, earning $238,225 for 2014-15, 2 percent more than last year.

Turlock teachers and support staff, meanwhile, received about 5.2 percent more money for 2014-15, when added days were factored in. The discrepancy in percentages drew union outrage at recent board meetings.

Six-digit administrative salaries stand out, but due to sheer numbers, it is teacher salaries that make up the lion’s share of school budgets. Turlock’s administrative salary hikes cost the district less than $250,000 all told for 2014-15. That compares with an added $2.5 million for the 5.2 percent raise for its teachers.

This story was originally published March 20, 2015 at 7:10 PM with the headline "Stanislaus education pay adjustments bring some big jumps."