Pay Freeze Holds D228 Admin Salaries Steady

, according to Superintendent Bill Kendall.

Under scrutiny for, Kendall stated that district administrators will not see a raise in the current school year. 

“It was just a given that we were going to take a freeze,” he said. “That was decided in February, prior to the [teacher's union] negotiations. That was really never even a topic of discussion, it was more of just an understanding.”

Kendall continued that while he is under a five-year contract with the district through 2017, the rest of the administration is on annual contracts. Such contracts are written to allow for administrators to apply for tenure—something he cannot do unless he was rehired by the district as a teacher.

Administrator salaries range from $68,000 to $172,000—not counting Kendall—which represented an outlay of $5.8 million for the district in 2011–12, about 7 percent of the district's overall budget for the year. Kendall said that current contracts reflect those numbers. The new contracts will be available for public viewing on Oct. 1, via the District 228 website.

As for Kendall, who received a $199,969 salary for the 2011–12 school year, he said that his compensation is based on his experience and his duties overseeing the district as a whole, and shouldn't be compared to that of teachers or other administrators.

“The amount of responsibility is different,” he said. “As a superintendent, you're responsible for four high schools, 5,000 students, close to 500 staff and over an $100,000,000 budget that's ultimately the responsibility of our board. So, I'm not trying to justify my salary, it is what it is and people are aware of it, there's a lot of responsibility that comes with that.”

As for the public perception that administration and the district is unwisely spending money, Kendall said he wasn't sure where that idea came from, but that it wasn't true.

“There's no doubt about it, these are difficult financial times,” he said. “But I'm absolutely proud of our teachers, proud of the work they're doing. What I would strongly suggest is people do is make an appointment.

“Come in and see our schools in action, see what's going on in there before you judge it. There's good things going on in all our schools and our administration team is ready to answer those questions, to get people into our schools and see what's going on.”

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