MARYSVILLE — With a $2 million hole in its budget, some new Marysville School Board members say the district needs to examine the cost of running the central office and whether it can afford nearly $1 million in annual salaries for its nine top administrators.
In addition to superintendent Linda Whitehead’s $130,876 salary, the district expects to pay eight executive directors salaries of more than $100,000 during the 2003-04 school year, documents show.
The school district’s highest-paid employees have jobs ranging from director of curriculum to budget director to director of community relations.
"Having eight directors making more than $100,000 is completely out of line," said Michael Kundu, one of three new school board members elected in November.
Reducing salaries paid to top administrative employees is one option Kundu wants to explore as the district grapples with making cuts to bring spending in line with revenue.
"That is certainly an area we need to consider taking a good, hard look at," he said Wednesday.
Helen Mount, a member of the board for 10 years, isn’t so sure. She worries about losing strong leaders. "We have excellent staff," she said.
The issue of how much is too much has come up several times at school board meetings in recent weeks. Some parents who sided with teachers during a state record 49-day strike this fall have urged the district to channel money spent on administration into the classroom.
Many questioned the district stand during negotiations that Marysville teachers were among the highest paid in the state and the district can’t afford to provide raises with local money. Their counter-argument is to ask if the district can afford its administrative salaries.
Sherley Chester, a parent with two students in Marysville schools, told the board this month: "What is your justification for eight executives collectively earning in excess of $813,000? Give me that money and I’ll find a better use for it — a use that will benefit the students and improve graduation rates and test scores, not empower the narcissism of the board."
"It’s clear that the taxpayers aren’t getting their money’s worth, that administration is one place where the school board should be looking to economize," said Elaine Hanson, president of the Marysville Education Association, the teachers union. "Having eight positions that are about double what an average teacher makes, is that wise spending?"
Whitehead’s contract, which expires in June 2006, includes a provision giving her "complete freedom to organize, reorganize and arrange" administrative staff.
"The responsibility for selection, placement and transfer of personnel shall be vested in the superintendent, subject to approval by the board," the contract states.
The district reorganized its top administration in 2002. It eliminated assistant superintendent positions and changed other job titles to include the eight executive directors who report to Whitehead.
Besides a change in titles, several administrators also added responsibilities, the district said.
"Our district is organized around the money available," said Judy Parker, the district spokeswoman and one of its eight executive directors. "An assistant or deputy superintendent would require higher salaries. The current organization allows (the district) to have highly qualified individuals because the money spreads further. … We have an expert over every area, and the superintendent supervises."
Mount said the organizational structure has allowed the district to hire well-qualified administrators. For example, Dan LeFebvre, the executive director for special services, was able to help the district qualify for hundreds of thousands of dollars from the state for special needs students that it hadn’t received in the past, she said.
"Quite frankly, what you do if you cut administrative salaries is you create more problems," Mount said. "If you have people who will work for less, they may not be as qualified."
By contrast, the Everett School District has 11 administrators making between $101,724 and $143,482, according to district records. The top salary is for superintendent Carol Whitehead, who is no relation to the Marysville superintendent. Others include two associate superintendents in the $117,984 to $120,338 range, five executive directors in the $108,838 to $114,661 range, and three program directors in the $101,724 to $102,312 range.
Other districts, such as Arlington, Lakewood and Granite Falls, had lower administrative costs than Marysville.
Marysville district officials point to state statistics that show their ratio of central office administrators to students is lower than most districts.
Vicki Gates, a new member elected board president on Dec. 1, said all district spending — including administration — must be looked at. Just nine days into office is too early to know where cuts can be made, she said.
Carol Jason, the other new board member, said she often heard that the district was "top heavy," and some people felt salaries were high when she ran for office.
In her voters’ pamphlet statement, she said, "It is time to review the salaries and the positions in the district offices."
For now, she said she is trying to learn more about the district before she commits to any position. However, she added, "You have to make your cuts as far away from the classroom as possible."
Kundu agreed, adding that he even thinks money set aside for school board use could be trimmed.
"I really am interested in knowing why the five of us — five volunteers — need to have a $500,000 budget," Kundu said.
He also questioned whether the district needs to spend so much on travel, an expense that came close to $174,000 last year. Kundu questioned some of Whitehead’s travel, which he said was to conferences "that have absolutely no direct bearing" on the business of teaching children. If the district spends money on travel, he wants it spent on teachers to attend work-related programs.
He also said school officials, including board members, need to reduce expectations for meals and other expenses while on school business. A computer analysis by The Herald found more than $5,700 in meals charged to the district last year, including some bills as high as $270 for a single evening’s dining at a seafood restaurant in San Francisco.
Kundu said he plans to live as inexpensively as possible if he has to travel on behalf of the school district. "I’m eating at McDonald’s," he said.
Reporter Scott North: 425-339-3431 or north@heraldnet.com.
Reporter Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446 or stevick@heraldnet.com.
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