OPINION: The Lake Washington School District Central Leadership Team and some administrator salaries are too high; the end result, our students and educators are somewhat impacted by misuse of these public funds.The new LWSD "Communications and Community Engagement" Director of less then two years, is paid a flat $169,285 per year. In my opinion, this is excessive. The Mayor of Redmond (and CEO) is paid less than $138,000 and he doesn't get summers off.
Looking at the district's Central Leadership Team Organizational Chart and a Board meeting packet, 16 Directors earn $169,285/yr and 9 Associate Directors earn $153,330/yr....all on flat salaries with no low or high ranges. It's my thought, Director salaries should be on a sliding scale based on performance and experience. Keep in mind, school business slows or ceases in many departments when school is out ... for example "Communications and Community Engagement"...not much engagement then.
In my opinion, Barbara Posthumus, the district CFO and "Associate Superintendent of Business and Support Services" in underpaid. She appears to be the point person in the community during levy and bond measure proposals. What could be more valuable?
Dr. Jon Holmen, the Deputy Superintendent oversees five Directors who play a key role in the Administration. His Directors are invaluable and underpaid. They bridge the schools with the Central Central Leadership Team, and oversee all the principals. According to School Board member Cassandra Sage, Dr. Holmen's Directors are required to be in the schools 2.5 days per week.
Director Matt Gillingham runs "Student and School Support Services." I first met Matt during Truancy Board training. Mr. Gillingham is responsible for student safety, social-emotional well-being, mental health recovery, bullying issues and also oversees the athletic department. He should be paid more than a Director.
Superintendent Jane Stavem is the CEO of the third largest school district in the State; the district is growing at the pace of one new elementary school per year. It's my understanding, Dr. Stavem is already bringing efficiencies by streamlining the Administration.
Dr. Stavem will hopefully learn the capabilities and assets of her workers to rank and pay them accordingly. Paying flat salaries doesn't encourage innovation or reward those who produce. Low-median-high salary ranges would keep turnover low to retain valuable workers and attract others.
-- Bob Yoder, 3/23/19
Sources: December 14th, 2018 School Board meeting packet / public record request
City of Redmond public record request
Redmond City Television, Comcast 21
This is a comment from a FB user:
ReplyDeleteThe medium household income of Redmond is: 107k
The medium house price is: 839,000 (per Zillow)
In comparison, the same statistic at national level are $56.6k and $226k, respectively.
It looks like things in Redmond are expensive. Is 1.6x of medium household income a reasonable number for someone who is at director-level caliber? I can't judge, but I thought some could use it as a secondary reference point.
BTW, I just realized that the mayor of Redmond is paid barely above medium household income. Does that match a mayor's responsibility?
https://datausa.io/profile/geo/redmond-wa/#economy
Thank you Asing. Looking at it your way I must say 1.6x the medium household is far too much for a school district director. The title sounds noble, but from my experience with some of the Directors most of the salaries (with the exceptions I mentioned in article) are extraordinary...and many don't work a full 8-hour day in the summer.
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