SOUNDING OFF:Administrators’ raises also necessary

The recent letters about our school administrators’ pay have been long on sarcasm and short on facts.

The teachers’ bargaining unit and the school district reached agreement in mid-February on a 6.5% across-the-board salary increase, which matched the raises already agreed upon with classified and management employees. This settlement represents over $1.4 million in our district’s annual budget of about $45 million and is the highest raise in quite a few years. Another $400,000 was the cost of longevity raises already built into the teachers’ salary schedule.

The school board decided on an additional increase in the pay scales of our nine principals, four district office administrators, and two other classified managers. These moves combined cost under $60,000. This amount equates to a .18% teacher raise, not exactly a significant figure at the bargaining table.

Why did the board raise administrator pay at this point in time? Simply put, we have to hire in a real-world, competitive marketplace. Our salary levels for these positions had fallen behind the other districts in our county.

We need to hire two new principals for next year to replace two who are retiring. Districts adjacent to ours are in the market for superintendents and assistant superintendents. As a practical matter, Huntington Beach City School District needs to have competitive salaries for these administrative jobs, just as it has for our teachers.

None of these moves have any effect on the stipend paid to school board members, which remains about $2,800 annually. Also, our staffing ratios show us to have fewer administrators for our size district than most.

What is really extraordinary about the salaries of all the employees in our district is that they are placed at or near the county average despite the fact that our district is the second-lowest in funding. We obviously place compensation of our employees as a very high priority. We receive $549 per student less than the Orange County elementary district average. A classroom of 28 students would have $15,000 additional money per year if our district were funded at the average.

The effect that a good teacher has on the life of a child is enormous. But no less important are the administrators who find and hire those teachers, provide teacher training and support, make classroom assignments, and many other tasks instrumental to the success of our schools.

I am proud of the education offered to our children in Huntington Beach. I hope we all would respect and value all district employees who make this happen, be they teachers, classified employees or administrators.