About a month ago the Flagler County School Board ratified amendments to next year’s contracts with its teachers and service employees, including what averaged out to a 2 percent raise for both groups. The raise was built into their contract, so the board, which approved that contract in December, had no choice but to grant it.
Then Superintendent Janet Valentine recommended that administrators—executive staff at the central office, principals, assistant principals–and a group of non-instructional professional employees, also get a 2 percent raise. School Board member Andy Dance made a motion to do so. The motion died for lack of second.
Click On:
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- Foregoing Raise to Top Staff, School Board Awards 2% to Most Others But Cuts Schedules
- Throngs Voice Opposition as School Board Endorses Cuts With Sweeping Consequences
- Flagler School Board Defends Its Own Budget Cutting, Batting Down Most Alternatives
- County Property Values Fall Another 14%; Palm Coast: -12%; Tax Rates Heading Up
- But Should They Be Paid? Flagler School Board Members Defend Their Salaries
The school board had just finished cutting the school day by 45 minutes a day, cutting back the number of days administrators and others would work next year, as a cost-saving measure, and was preparing to lay off dozens of teachers. The board was recognizing that giving a 2 percent raise to some 88 employees, more than half of whom administrators paid between $75,000 and $105,000 (not counting the superintendent’s $145,000) may not have looked very defensible in a county with the highest unemployment rate and the highest foreclosure rate in the state, and in a school system where per-student funding dropped precipitously this year.
Remarkably, the matter didn’t die there. And the way it was revived, by both administrators and school board members, flirted with the surreal.
Earlier this month, Chris Pryor, the principal at Matanzas High School, and Nancy Willis, principal at Old Kings elementary, stood before the board to plead for reconsideration. Pryor held up a big bag and a tiny bag of M&Ms to show how insignificant, in his view, a raise for his class of administrators would be—something about the big bag representing the whole budget and the handful of M&Ms representing administrators and professionals. Willis claimed that some teachers made more than some assistant principals, a strange (and mostly false) claim that teachers would find insulting, as it suggests that administrators by nature must be paid more than teachers, regardless of teachers’ experience and advanced degrees.
Neither principal mentioned his and her salary.
Flagler School Disrtrict's Top 60
| Name | Title | Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Janet Valentine | Superintendent | $145,000.00 |
| Tom Tant | Chief Financial Officer | $105,345.00 |
| Diane Dyer | Curriculum Director, High School | $100,612.00 |
| Harriett Holiday | Personnel Director | $100,612.00 |
| Chris Pryor | Principal, Matanzas High | $96,878.00 |
| Nancy Willis | Principal, Old Kings Elementary | $96,713.00 |
| Kristy Gavin | School Board Attorney | $95,000.00 |
| Mike Judd | Senior Director of Operations | $94,980.00 |
| Stewart Maxcy | Principal on Assignment | $94,574.00 |
| Denise Haymes | Curriculum Director, Elementary and Middle Schools | $92,693.00 |
| Robert Nocella | Vocational and Adult Education Director | $92,693.00 |
| Winnie Oden | Principal, Buddy Taylor Middle | $90,294.00 |
| Jacob Oliva | Principal, Flagler Palm Coast High | $89,460.00 |
| Walt Fischer | Maintenance Director | $89,386.00 |
| Katrina Townsend | Student Services Director | $88,413.00 |
| Paula St. Francis | Principal, Rymfire Elementary | $88,155.00 |
| Terence Culver | Assistant Principal, Matanzas | $85,013.00 |
| Jim Devine | Curriculum Specialist, Standardized Testing | $84,457.00 |
| Stephen Hinson | Principal, Belle Terre Elementary | $83,874.00 |
| Vernon Orndorff | Principal, Indian Trails Middle | $83,874.00 |
| Phyllis Pearson | Assistant Principal, FPC | $82,058.00 |
| Carla Taylor | Principal, Pathways Alternative School | $82,058.00 |
| Richard Dupont | Principal, Bunnell Elementary | $81,736.00 |
| Robin Dupont | Principal, Wadsworth Elementary | $81,736.00 |
| Kenneth Seybold | Assistant Principal, Matanzas | $81,548.00 |
| Nell Brown | Librarian, Old Kings Elementary | $80,613.00 |
| James Bond | Counselor, Matanzas High | $80,466.00 |
| Phil DeAugustino | Counselor, Flagler Palm Coast High | $80,466.00 |
| Lynette Shott | Assistant Principal, Flagler Palm Coast High | $80,048.00 |
| Lynn Bender | Librarian, Flagler Palm Coast High | $79,613.00 |
| Lorna Moschetti | Librarian, Flagler Palm Coast High | $79,613.00 |
| Frederick Terry | Assistant Principal, Wadsworth Elementary | $78,623.00 |
| Susan Bickings | Counselor, Bunnell Elementary | $78,613.00 |
| Ryan Deising | Director of Information Technology | $78,233.00 |
| Sabrina Crosby | Special Projects Coordinator | $78,037.00 |
| Robert Sawyer | Dean, Matanzas High | $77,749.00 |
| Sherri Donchez | Counselor, Bunnell Elementary | $77,613.00 |
| Kim Gridley | Assistant Principal, Matanzas High | $77,528.00 |
| Cathy Thomas | Assistant Principal, Indian Trails Middle | $76,675.00 |
| Barry Wills | Assistant Principal, Belle Terre Elementary | $76,675.00 |
| Caroline Hitchcock | Counselor, Old Kings Elementary | $76,512.00 |
| Anna Crawford | Assistant Principal, Belle Terre Elementary | $76,231.00 |
| Virginia Giaramita | Adult Education Supervisor | $76,028.00 |
| Diane Beeman | Counselor, Matanzas High | $75,410.00 |
| Nathan Lovelette | Assistant Principal, Buddy Taylor Middle | $74,731.00 |
| Jean Stahl | Assistant Principal, Old Kings Elementary | $74,731.00 |
| Steve DeAugustino | Athletic Director, Flagler Palm Coast High | $74,575.00 |
| Ronee King | Community Adult Education Coordinator | $74,342.00 |
| Alphonse Belletto Jr. | Counselor, Belle Terre Elementary | $74,308.00 |
| Mary Coalson | Staffing Specialist, Special Education | $74,308.00 |
| Carol West | Kindergarten Teacher, Bunnell Elementary | $73,427.00 |
| David Hartley | Adult Education Counselor | $73,205.00 |
| Tracy Umpenhour | Director of Special Education | $73,137.00 |
| Barbara Sauvelpahkick | Assistant Principal, Rymfire Elementary | $72,785.00 |
| Lisa McDevitt | Flagler Auditorium Director | $72,655.00 |
| Jan Lemus | Teacher, Matanzas High | $72,427.00 |
| Katherine Morgan | Teacher, Rymfire Elementary | $72,427.00 |
| Ronald Smith | Teacher, Buddy Taylor Middle | $72,427.00 |
| Patricia Sorensen | Teacher, Flagler Palm Coast High | $72,427.00 |
Also: the salaries above do not reflect the pay cuts administrators will take this coming year, from having days pared off their work year. Employees' take-home pay will also be reduced 3 percent because of contributions to the Florida Retirement System. Health insurance costs have also increased for most.
Pryor’s $96,878 salary makes him the fifth highest paid employee in a district of 1,723 employees, 400 of whom make less than $12 an hour, many of them on less than full-time hours. Nancy Willis’s $96,713 salary makes her the sixth-highest paid employee in the district. Neither salary includes their benefits. Willis had retired in 2004 and returned to work in 2006 after taking part in the state’s deferred retirement option plan, or DROP, making her eligible for retirement pay.
They’re not unique. Flagler County’s school administrators make on average twice as much as the median household income in Flagler County. Eleven administrators, including five principals, make between $90,000 and $105,000. No principal makes less than $81,000. One assistant principal, Terence Culver at Matanzas High School, makes $85,000. No assistant principal makes less than $72,000.
Willis’s claim, repeated by School Board Chairwoman Sue Dickinson, as justification for the 2 percent raise—that some assistant principals make less than teachers—is a stretch: only two assistant principals make less than The highest-paid teacher in the district, Carol West, a kindergarten teacher at Bunnell Elementary, makes $73,427, and just barely. Barbara Sauvelpahkick, the assistant principal at Rymfire Elementary, makes $72,785, a difference of $642, or perhaps a quarter of an M&M in Pryor’s bag; Heidi Blanchard, an assistant principal at Bunnell Elementary, makes $65,000.
There are six more assistant principals in the system who make less than teachers, but unlike the rest of their colleagues, they work an abbreviated year–216 days instead of 261, and still pull in between $60,000 and $70,000 a year.
Several counselors make in the same range as higher-paid assistant principals, and most of them work 216 days, not 261. None are anywhere near underpaid, and most people would be surprised at the number of people in the district pulling those salaries.
Pryor’s math was also off. He said the cost of the 2 percent raise would be no more than $35,000. That’s not the case. It’s $115,000. The $35,000 figure is derived only when the school board’s saving of $80,000, resulting from a reduction of a few days’ work, is taken out of that $115,000 to produce what Valentine called a “net cost” to the district of $35,000. But that “net cost” negates the earlier saving.
“The reason we cut those days was to save money, and then as you give them a raise you’re paying someone more to pay less,” board member Trevor Tucker said.
“Well, we did it across the board, so why are these people being punished?,” Dickinson said, referring to the administrators and professionals. “For the peanuts, and I do say peanuts that we’re talking here, I mean even if we’re looking at $115,000, yes we’re cutting to save money, but yet come on folks, $35,000.”
Then she talked of the time when Bill Delbrugge, the former superintendent, was hired as principal at Flagler Palm Coast High School from a job in Georgia. “Bill came through the door making a whole lot more money than people that had been with us for years, and they never complained,” Dickinson said of other administrators. “They never fought that.”
They never did, because their salaries soared, too: Delbrugge’s highest salary at Flagler Palm Coast High School was $88,000 in his last year there, in 2005, before he was hired as superintendent (for $115,000). Sixteen administrators make more than that now, including five principals.
The school board’s reaction to the principals’ plea was equally baffling. Board member after board member apologized to administrators and professional staff for not discussing the matter when Valentine originally brought it fourth, claiming that by not discussing it, they were showing disrespect to their top staff. “We did ignore them, we didn’t give them the time of day,” Dickinson. “I do believe that we failed at this point.”
That day, the meeting chamber was almost entirely empty but for the board and the administrative staff. The meeting was held in the morning, when it draws far fewer people than evening meetings.
Dance brought the matter back up for discussion—not necessarily to award the raise, but to discuss it, and suggest a special meeting (technically, a workshop) to hash out the numbers.
“Normally we do a really good job. We’re kind of a, with teachers and kids we’re kind of a touchy feely board, and normally we’re really good at expressing some of those opinions, even if the vote doesn’t go a certain way,” Dance said, explaining why he was bringing the matter back up. “We typically do express that we understand what they’re going through, or we understand that position even though we didn’t agree. So again I’m not here to push. What I’d like to see,” he continued, “is more information for transparency purposes with the public and also for explaining to the board how our administrative and professional staff are organized. Ultimately I think it should come back to the board as separate entities, and the professional shouldn’t be lumped in with the administration in a motion like that.”
The board agreed to that: the administrative staff would be split from the professional staff (whose members are paid considerably less), so that if the board wanted to award the 2 percent to the professionals but not the administrative staff, it would have that option.
Board member John Fischer also apologized to administrators for not expressing his appreciation, but he said, suggesting resistance to a 2 percent raise for that class: “But some people I talk to, they understand, because of the fact that this is what it is, and we’re going to have to reflect on this, and we’re going to have to work on this as a team. Maybe next year will be better. But we all have to understand that sacrifice, sometimes it’s pretty drastic, but it has to be done. ”
Colleen Conklin said the board would have been in an untenable situation had it granted the raise to the top staff. “Legally we were obligated to give the step, we really didn’t have much of a choice,” Conklin said, referring to the technical term of the 2 percent raise for rank and file employees. “I think if we had a choice to give the step, I don’t think we would have given the step, because you can’t say to the community in one hand that we have a financial crisis on our hands and we’re cutting the school day for our students, and then on the other hand, you give a raise, or a step increase. Legally obligated or not, it just doesn’t wash, so in the same discussion, to have another conversation about administrators and professionals, it’s not really palatable at that moment in time. I think that in looking at solutions, you have to pay for it somewhere. Now, instead of giving the step increase, I would have liked to have kept the high school and middle school teachers that we lost, I would have liked to have kept the school day the length that it was, and not lost that time. That to me would have been a tradeoff. It doesn’t make the teachers very happy, it doesn’t make our support personnel very happy, it doesn’t make you guys very happy, possibly, but that would have been the trade-off, if we weren’t legally obligated, to be quite frank with you, but we were, and we are, and that’s what we have to do. In order to be fair, we should have had the discussion.”
The board will be taking up the matter of a 2 percent raise for administrators and professionals at a meeting next week, on July 26.
Allison Burnett Pineda says
No!
Betty Nicolicchia-Allen says
No, we just cut out teachers and are making the days shorter to what, give THEM more money instead of the teachers who need and deserve it…
Kyle Russell says
That was my first thought.
Jim Guines says
My heart still goes out for the little people as I believe they are the ones hurting, but I can assure you that noone will speak up for them,
Unemployed teacher says
As a newly unemployed teacher making $32,000 a year, this is amazing. Your “net cost” would have kept me or one of the other 41 teachers employed and in a classroom with students. Peanuts to you – a mortgage payment and living to me.
lawabidingcitizen says
Which little people are those Jim?
Salaries like these for this part of the country are obscene. The school board needs to land that space ship and come down to planet earth. Cuts across the board now.
Nick D says
Seriously, a collective $4,893,820.00 per year for the top salaried non-teaching positions? And they want a 2% raise for them all? And during an economic down turn nationwide?
If I was a teacher about to lose my job or have my wage cut because of budget cuts, I would be more upset with my bosses asking for (and expecting) a 2% raise.
I’m thinking I would have motioned to reduce their salaries by 2% and save a few more teachers from being cut.
I mean after all they say they do it for the kids…or is that just their ruse?
Binkey says
Was there a reason that all assistant principals were not included for this article?
[Editor’s note: a half dozen assistant principals in the $60,000-$70,000 were not in the chart, which is only the top 60 paid employees, but the article was clarified in line with your comment to explain that those assistant principals, while paid slightly less, are not year-round employees.]
Rob says
Any school board member who advocates giving these high paid administrators and teachers a raise needs to be drummed out of office quick, fast and in a hurry. However it sounds like they are going to back door these raises one way or another.
I calculate $4,893,820.00 in salaries, not including benefits.
A couple of months ago didn’t one of the school board members suggest that someone take a pay cut, of course not him and the rest of the school board though.
How about these administrators take a 2% pay cut. That would amount to $97,876.40
Then possibly two or three of the teachers who were fired could be rehired.
.
wow says
Forget the 2%!!, I think this pay scale needs to be readdressed. How can any pay scale pay a kindergarten teacher more than the director of special education or an assistant principal? Something isn’t right here.
palmcoaster says
Shame on Board Member Andrew Dance being the first to approve this prepotency demand for already higher out of context with reality, administrators salary increases request. This is not what I voted you for!
All the school Board members that agree and vote yes on these administrators already too high paid, request for even more increases, need to be voted out of office!
Is like I said already in these posts. Candidates that I supported on their campaigns turned around from what they promised and became calculated strangers once in office and voting against, us the people, that put them in office best interest!
AngryTeacher says
I don’t care if the administrators get a raise or not. What bothers me is that some of us are classroom teachers who have students who take the FCAT. The school grades are tied to FCAT. How many of those people on there have jobs which don’t affect FCAT? $79,000+ for a librarian? Meanwhile, some of us are making less than $45,000. Those of us who teach in FCAT classrooms are expected to share our bonus with them. Aggravating.
palmcoaster says
I think Jim refers to the students when he says “little people”. Our students will benefit from not having such a greedy administrators within a disastrous economy that promoted cuts across the board for our little people’s education. 41 teachers laid off at about S32,000 a year salaries and these greedy cocky administrators with salaries three and more times of those teachers ask for more? Make me want to p…e . Also by the way the Flagler County School Chief Buyer Carmen Campanella needs to be looked with the magnifying glass and explain also why he outsource’s our tax payers funded contracts to NJ and other location contractors. Why are not shown the awarded bids in the school purchasing Internet link. Maybe the FBI should be called also to investigate our local government contracts awarded including schools and the TDC, COC and Enterprise implications on them assignments, like done in Broward County already!
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/miramar/sfl-broward-corruption-bn092309,0,7088546.story
Also:
http://www.fbi.gov/miami/press-releases/2009/mm092309.htm
My school taxes are for the kids, not to pay all these red tape administrators. Ms Valentine became (and I lauded) that from within a superintendent with maybe less than 80,000 salary and she makes 145,000 now and probably plus bonuses/benefits…? Wow! What are these School Board members smoking? and she is not even a PHD in education probably as customary requested for a Superintendent position? Is she? This school Board needs to be out ,if agrees with the adminstrators increases request. We should not be extortionate for the sake of our kids education by these greedy administrators. They take what they have now, or can get a job somewhere else and good luck. Is our teachers that we should retain and rehire the 41 injustified laid off and keep our regular school schedule other than cutting 45 minutes a day, plus other students services to save funds.. Oh My ! Have we become the USSAR now?
Bruce F. Driscoll says
I think a cut in pay would be better and give it to the teachers who deserve it……….
Angela Smith says
It isn’t the “administrators” who need and deserve the money; it’s the TEACHERS!
Mario DiGirolamo says
Cut their pay in half. If they stay, then they’re worthy of their title. If not, good riddance and we’ll find someone else twice as talented for half the price. How dare these people expect a raise when they’re already making these outrageous salaries! There are way too many people who can’t even find a job. Disgusting. I vote NO!
Images by Tasia says
This is ridiculous…
Mitzi Gee says
NO WAY! After how much our children and our teachers are suffering?! This is outrageous!
Outsider says
How can I become a member of this fifedom?
Kyle Russell says
^I wish there was a “Like” button for Outsider’s comment.
tulip says
They are paid this kind of money and they don’t even work a full year like other people? While I have a big respect for the teachers, I feel the administrators and school board are very arrogant and self-centered in demanding such a high salary, while the teachers are the ones who work with the kids and make sure they’r getting their educatiion on a daily basis for far less money.
Yogi says
Elected reps seem to forget who elected them. What have the voters done to hold their reps accountable? What impact have they had so far? Thieves steal from lazy idiots that don’t lock up their goods and stand guard.
Bob Z. says
The teachers & support staff should get the 2% raise (the step increase they are getting is not technically a raise) and the others should be satisified with no increase. Besides, most already have started to contribute 3% to their retirement accounts effective July 1st so after the step raise they are still making less.
Jim Guines says
One of the things that I have noticed about the system is that it is very class oriented and in my mind it is based a lot on how much money a person makes. Staff on the lower end of the wage scale and up to a point, I refer to as “little people” and the PROFESSIONALS at the upper end, I call “big people”. I know it seems demeaning, but it makes my point. The bottom scale has always been the low paid; aides, custodians, cafeteria workers, nurses, NON-PROFESSIONAL. When you try to do a salary scale based on percentages the professionals get a bigger raise than the non-professionals and it really messes up morale and prevents the school system from feeling like they are a team. The top of the system takes care of the top and the bottom is forgotten. A class system can be a bitch, it really messes with an organization. As a black person in this society, I understand this clearly.
Response to Wow says
You asked why a kindergarten teacher should make more than a director or an assistant principal. It’s because she has been in education for 30+ years. Some of the assistant principals have been in education for less than 10 years.
palmcoaster says
Not a word here about the 2% increase requested by these currently over compensated school administrators! Also be aware that with the tax increase from 8.013 to 8.031 already approved by the board and if they continuo in this trend when the market will turn around and property values will recover those mill increases taking place now, willl hit as really hard! http://www.news-journalonline.com/news/local/flagler/2011/07/20/flagler-schools-agree-on-slight-increase-for-proposed-tax-rate.html
I am wondering is 28% of houses in Flagler County are vacant as reported means probably that a good percentage of the 28% have moved away from this county looking for jobs. Those children are no longer in our schools then. If so can we get the actual dwindling numbers?
41 teachers have been laid off that are really the ones that do the work with our students. Can you tell us how many administrators were booted, if any? What this board other than apologizing for no reason to Valentine and the other 87 overpaid, need to do is, bring back our teachers and restore the 45 minutes curtailed form the school day. As this is why I pay this high school taxes for and then fund their salaries and those hours by cutting down that amount from these administrators salaries instead and even let go some as well, if not done yet! Jeez ! 2 librarians making over 70,000/year, when some teachers barely make 34,000? Where are we now in the USSAR?Shame on Dance and Dickinson as well, the big pushers for these inaccuracies taking place in our schools.
The Truth says
Almost every one of those salaries is ridiculous. I understand some of these teachers/staff members have been employed in Flagler Schools for several years, but it does seems as though their salaries are a bit high.
Why in the world are we paying two librarians at FPC nearly $160,000 yearly salary? This is ABSURD!
Former FPC Student says
There are not 2 librarians at FPC. One is a guidance counselor which is retiring at the end of this school year.
sunshine says
As a “little people” I am sickened by this! I have been cut 2 days and will pay into my retirement (I have NO problem with that), not sure yet if my hours will be cut since they have cut the school hours. I DO have a problem with this! I make $13k a year…..and pay dearly for my insurance that I need so badly. My guess is, if this passes, next the board will be voting a raise for themselves! Signed, “little person”
Clarity says
As a former “little person” employed by Flagler County Schools, none of this surprises me at all. Students and education have always taken a back seat to the greed and selfishness of the school board, and quite clearly, some of the administrators as well. How these people justify their positions and sleep soundly at night is beyond me. Where are their priorities? Obviously not aligned with the job for which they were hired or elected to do, nor the students they are expected to serve. Letting go of highly qualified teachers, cutting school hours, cutting days from support staff (who, by the way, often work directly with students and tend to have more impact on student achievement than any school board member or administrator does), cutting sports and arts programs…..all so they can indulge their need to add to their already grossly distorted salaries? Insanity. With higher and higher demands being placed on teachers and students by the state and unrealistic legislation setting our public school system up for failure…with families being forced to move due to lack of employment and foreclosures….with teachers being forced to leave their jobs to seek more stable areas where they can teach with the passion and appreciation they so very much deserve …..instead, what these people choose to fight for is their 2%? Unbelievable.
Liana G says
When my son was in high school he wanted an aquarium and got one. We stocked the aquarium with various fishes in different size, shape, and color with the help and advice from the store employee. We got a couple large plain ordinary fish, some nice medium size, some small pretty little ones, and a few very much appreciated and essential bottom feeders. We were told to only feed them small amounts of food at a time because fish would essentially eat and eat and eat until they pop!
With the aquarium now stocked and nicely decorated, we settled in to enjoy the show. We noticed that the bottom feeders basically ate whatever crumbs happen to fall to the bottom but mostly the crap – but only so much – so the less crap, the cleaner and healthier and happier the environment and less work too! But over time, we begin to notice the small pretty fishes disappearing (beautiful in their frailty and sweet disposition), couldn’t even find their bodies.
Puzzled, we decided to pay close attention, and to our great surprise, observe the big fishes devouring the pretty little ones . We let things be, no point in paying for more small pretty ones only to have them eaten! But then the next strange thing began to take place; the medium size fishes began to show signs of brutal scarring, and they soon began to die off from their injuries!
Now we were left with the now enormously big and grotesque fishes, and I disliked them so much I wanted to flush them down the toilet – let them eat the CRAP they were dishing out feeding to the others! (Though, by the way, those few bottom feeders were still there, still cleaning up their crap) But my son said for us to give them back to the pet store for free. I did this grudgingly; these monsters weren’t weren’t worth my time and resources. However, when we got to the pet store, the good folks there didn’t want these fishes either!
They said they would be an expensive liability because they would have to keep them in separate tanks. Imagine that! And here I was thinking I was doing these folks a favor since these fishes have to be worth something!
We left the store and my son said “Mom, let’s just throw them in the nearest canal/lake, if they survive good for them, and if they don’t we wouldn’t know and I don’t care anymore.”
Flagler County government is exactly like the fishes in this aquarium. And the taxpayers and their kids are the ones paying for and observing this debacle. Gluttony knows no boundaries!
Jim Guines says
Some of the top salaries do not make any sense in terms of what I remember about line and staff functions when I served on the board. Some are out of line in terms of responsibility. It really looks like some favoritism is at play and it should not be. If I were on the board, I would call for an investigation and have it published so ALL could see.
JL says
Absolutely no raise should be given to the already over paid administrators. With the way people are leaving the area, you will be lucky to have a job soon. You don’t exactly have people moving into the area. Have they heard that the county is LOSING money becaus of people moving out. And they have the nerve to ask for a raise? They are making more than enough money to enjoy a “good” living in Flagler County. No raise.
Frances says
I do not agree that Administrators are paid too much or that they do not deserve a raise. I taught for 30 years and I am well aware of the time, stress and problems that are involved with their positions. I also would like to say that our school board and county level staff work hard to support teachers and help create a good educational experience for the students in our county. Superintendent Janet Valentine is an exceptional person and works tirelessly for this county. Unfortunately at this time in our country, many people are suffering and are out of work. I understand how tough it is to give raises at this time and many times it is not possible at all. However, it doesn’t mean that people don’t deserve them. I am sure all of the administrators will continue to work hard whether they get their 2% raise or not. Educators are some of the hardest working and most caring people in the world. Just had to speak up on this one…
Shortysmom says
I think its a disgrace that these administrators even entertain the idea of a raise. How dare they after shortening the school day and cutting teachers. How selfish, it makes you wonder if they are in it for the love of the children or the money! Where I come from the school board wasn’t salaried either it was a volunteerd position and that should be addressed as well.
Anonymous says
Frances I recall clearly when Superintendent Valentine ( and I didn’t imagine she makes now a whooping $145,000) offered to have a pay cut, not too long ago, in order to show sympathy for the 41 teachers to be fired and the classes schedule cuts for the kids!
Also I totally agree with Jim that since you left the School Board, Jim, few years ago they have raised out of context pay compensations to some administrators including Valentine. She as Principal maybe made 88,000 the most when promoted from within? and now out of the blue she makes $145,000 plus bonuses and wants her 2% more. Good idea Jim that the FBI should be called to investigate this school board policies enforced and I would add the school chief buyer Carmen Campanella not posting on the web site the school bids granted to suppliers as well as the total paid for those contracts, should be investigated as well.. The School Purchasing Dept. web site link is a joke. Lets keep in mind that now still after all these years Mrs Dickinson is the chair and I recall back years ago when a big conflict of interest arise when her former husband’s developer employer, was assigned a large contract that failed delivery and became a costly blunder for the school capital projects budget!
Lets follow the example of Broward County and its school board investigated by the FBI. We been pillage and quiet too long.
Jim Guines says
Frances, I know where you are coming from and if I had to lead in some school system, I would take you with me for every 5 of the ones I have reference too. You would be worth it!
palmcoaster says
Frances I recall clearly when Superintendent Valentine ( and I didn’t imagine she makes now a whooping $145,000) offered to have a pay cut, not too long ago, in order to show sympathy for the 41 teachers to be fired and the classes schedule cuts for the kids!
Also I totally agree with Jim that since you left the School Board, Jim, few years ago they have raised out of context pay compensations to some administrators including Valentine. She as Principal maybe made 88,000 the most when promoted from within? and now out of the blue she makes $145,000 plus bonuses and wants her 2% more. Good idea Jim that the FBI should be called to investigate this school board policies enforced and I would add the school chief buyer not posting on the web site the school bids granted to suppliers as well as the total paid for those contracts, should be investigated as well.. The School Purchasing Dept. web site link is a joke. Lets keep in mind that now still after all these years Mrs Dickinson is the chair and I recall back years ago when a big conflict of interest arise when her former husband’s developer employer, was assigned a large contract that failed delivery and became a costly blunder for the school capital projects budget!
Lets follow the example of Broward County and its school board investigated by the FBI. We been pillage and quiet too long.
JMS says
Im sorry Frances I have to disagree. These salaries are rediculous…I am educated….I go above and beyond in my profession, working endless hours on my own time. My husband has a very respectable position and unfortunately our combined income doesn’t come near what anyone on this list makes.
anti says
While this county is in a state of economic crisis with layoffs out the wazzoo, these wise guy’s have the audacity to request a 2% raise to their already living way more than comfortably salaries. Someone should hold up a big bag and a tiny bag of Poo to show how insignificant a 2% pay cut for this class of administrators would be.
Lin says
With salaries like those listed here, no raises. This is a shocking expose of what our “POOR” top 60 are making. I would like to know what the rest of our school employees are making — I know some of them aren’t in that bracket. When this sort of thing was published in the district I came from, there was a big storm from the taxpayers. I hope this is passed around.
The comment that there is stress and problems on the job doesn’t mean MORE MONEY FOR EMPLOYEES will fix it either for them or for the students. That is the job — when you take it on, you need to be prepared for what the job is. This job hasn’t been easy for many decades.
When the administrators and other employees make so much more than the community can bear, it is a very unhealthy situation — and when you add to that the school day being cut and some scores dropping, layoffs of good teachers, you have to lay some of the blame at the feet of the school board (Andy Dance, what are you thinking?) and our highest paid employee, the Superintendent.
I’m for a volunteer School Board — I think ours is too cozy with those they supervise.
Val Jaffee says
“Pryor’s $96,878 salary makes him the fifth highest paid employee in a district”
Isn’t he the principal with the most Assistants and Admin Staff – i.e., personal helpers? This school has the least amount of students per helper ratio. Why?
The students at Belle Terre – 1600+ with 1 principal and 2 Assts, and the students at Indian Trails – 975+ with 1 principal and 1 Asst, feed into this school. Obviously, based on school stats, these are the ‘well prepared, well behaved, smart, middle class students’. Why do they suddenly need all these helpers at this specific school? Is there a problem of competence with the person at the helm?
Easy on those M&Ms, too much candy does that to a person
Bill McGuire says
I am reading these posts with sadness but also amused irony. All this indignation. I have been attending school board meetings and workshops for over two years and have discussed many of these things with key administrators. I am neither defending nor attacking your comments but I will say this; I can’t remember a meeting with more than a scant handfull of attendees, none of whom appeared to be parents. With ~ 13,000 students in the district, you would think that these meetings would be SRO. They’re not even close to 1/10th of one percent, if that. If the public doesn’t show any interest in the workings of this board and stand up and be heard, can you fault them for any of their actions? Posting an angry message or writing a letter to an editor is a half hearted reaction. Get off your butt, go to the meetings, stand up and tell them what you think and feel.
Linda Morgan says
I love FlaglerLive! Thanks for keeping us informed.
wow says
I understand time served should be rewarded, but it should not amount to more than administrators and directors with higher degrees. I hope that the district sits down and looks at these pay scales.
Thinkforyourself says
If I read the article correctly the Board hasn’t agreed to do anything but was apologetic for at least not having the discussion and letting the motion fail instead of just letting it die for lack of a second. I don’t think high end administrators should get anything more than what they’re getting. They should be thankful for what they’ve got. I’m also not sure if their salaries are way out of line compared to other districts. I do think there is a whole other group of folks who make very little but were lumped in there with them. They got the short end of the stick. Cafeteria managers/supervisors and some administrative assistants all who make much less than the salaries you’re looking at took it in the shorts.
Liana G says
@ Mr McGuire
Could it be Mr McGuire that many of these parents: work more than one job, work shift jobs, both work, are unemployed with limited resources, have one vehicle, have small kids at home to take care of and feed, and /or the location of these meetings make getting there a economical strain?
When we, the working taxpayers, appoint and pay for individuals to take care of our interest, we expect them to do exactly that!
I am a transplant, I’ve been here 5 years. My first impression of this school district was that it was very stand offish and unfriendly. And I have heard the same from many parents. Now I’m beginning to see why. This is deliberate on their part to keep parents out.
Rest assured I will be making a concentrated effort to show up to meetings in the future and join every parent committee I possibly can. Hopefully I maybe be able to attend the July 26, if it’s open to the public.
What you should also be aware of Mr McGuire is that many of the posters here are employed in the school system and there are words such as reprecussions, backlash, revenge, and a host of others that they may be subject to. But they’re doing their part!
@ wow –
that has to do with some of the totally absurd policies of Unions; the worst being ‘first one in – last one out’ regardless of the quality and effectiveness of the individual, and to the detriment of students, qualified and effective teachers, administrators, and parents/taxpayers
JMS says
Mr. Guines, You are absolutely right!! I have attended a handful of School board meetings and it has been amazing to me how few people attend. The public really needs to start attending these meetings. I think though many don’t attend as they feel “what good would it do?”. When something is brought up at the meeting during the time where the public may speak do they address it on the spot? or is the person told they are to speak to the board in private?
Kendall says
I will make certain any board member that supports these salary increases does not get my vote next time they are up for election. And I will make sure everyone that I know understands why.
A Disgruntled English Teacher says
As an English Educator, I would like to say the typos and grammar in this posting demonstrates the reason why educators, whether an administrator or a teacher, needs to have a pay increase. Most of our public schools earned an “A”, in which reflects in OUR “A” status as a district.
Pierre Tristam says
Dear Disgruntled English Teacher,
You remind me of Gary Hart taunting reporters on “Monkey Business” before his unraveling, so I feel obliged to correct you, because a lot of students read this site, and we wouldn’t want them to get the wrong impression from an English teacher.
1. “…the typos and grammar in this posting demonstrates the reason why educators…” You have an extraneous s in demonstrate, which is a plural reference to “the typos and grammar.”
2. “… why educators, whether an administrator or a teacher…” If you go with educators, plural, as you do, then it should be why educators, whether administrators or teachers: the s does belong in both.
3. why educators need, not needs.
4. Most of our public schools earned an “A”, the comma should be inside the quote mark, not outside; we’re not in Liverpool anymore, Toto.
5. “… in which reflects in OUR “A” status as a district.” I don’t quite know what to do with this one, because it’s beyond repair.
A point of information: 30 of Florida’s 67 districts had an A, which may reflect the growing meaninglessness of those scores.
Now, dear English teacher, my guess is that you’re pulling our collective legs by claiming to be an “English educator,” disgruntled or otherwise (though I’m thankful you had the good sense to call yourself an educator and not a teacher, “educators” being the overpaid paper-pushers who have teacher envy and teachers being the real thing). But if you are an English teacher, then heaven help us. And it goes a long way to explaining the meaninglessness behind that A, which is also the first letter in alleged.
palmcoaster says
Well said Liana. We vote people in to represent us and in my case was Andrew Dance last time I did and now we have to be babysitting them so they don’t stab us in the back because we do not attend the board meetings? If we have to go to all school board, city council, county commission and TDC regular meetings plus all their special meetings to become the watchdogs for these elected officials then we just don’t go to work Mr.McGuire and who pays our taxes and bills? The issue in this county is that too much special interest to grab a hold of our tax contributions is at large here and our elected ones just associate to help on that goal or look the other way. More or less what takes a place at federal level as well.
concerned citizen says
In this economicly depresssed time, I do think that there should be no raise. There should be some consideration for the teachers that were laid off. I agree, there should be a cut in the high salaries in order to keep the ones that were laid off. In addition the schools hours should not be cut either. This does not make sence.
Outsider says
“Most of our public schools earned an “A”, in which reflects in OUR “A” status as a district.”
WTFO?!?!?
PJ says
I say consoiidate many of those positions to save money and give the difference to those underpaid teachers. Andy Dance has a point. his position is voted in so as that position may not last it is an incentive to vote for a raise. Otherwise Andy and the other board members are doing a good job in trying times.>PJ
Bill McGuire says
Liana: Your point is well taken and I hope that I didn’t offend you. There are many parents that work such a schedule that the meetings are a hardship for them. But, so many? When the issue is one which excites the voters, they show up in large groups. For example, two years ago most of the Flagler voters had never even heard of the Carver Gym. But, when the gym faced closure because of disrepair, groups of concerned citizens showed up in large numbers, carried signs and spoke at great length toward the need to “Save the Carver Gym.” As a result, the school board and the county council took up the issue, one of the county comissioners made it a cause celebre and the facility emerged with a plan to keep it going. No way would this have happened without large numbers of citizens confronting the board. The school board agenda is published online prior to the meeting. For you and your situation, maybe you could e mail your school board representative and make him or her aware of your position. I can tell you from first hand experince that, when enough citizens rise up, results reflecting their concerns are usually forthcoming. Forgive me if I sound condescending but I’d rather light a candle than curse the darkness.
Flagler Mom says
Just a few facts to clear things up: the administrators only wanted the discussion to take place, not necessarily the raise. Most administrators have worked to get three, sometimes four degrees and have the loans to go with them. The hours at school are on average about 9 a day, before night or weekend activities are figured in – ask to see a job description of your child’s principal or assistant principal to check, and yes, there are certainly some overpaid people in the field, as there are anywhere.
Liana G says
@ Mr McGuire
Thank you. And no offence taken. I have had cause to write to this school board / district on several occasions and received zero responses. So an open public forum which has the ability to reach a vast majority of the public has proven to be just as, if not the most, effective and accommodating. In essence, it’s ‘the citizens rising up’ in this new technology era.
I have to admit I am confused as to who is my board representative. I’ve met Mr Dance at one school, Mr Tucker at another, and Mr Fischer at town hall meetings at our local library. However, the district is aware of who I am.
Nevertheless, I prefer this forum. Thank you FlaglerLive!
Liana G says
@ Flagler Mom
“Most administrators have worked to get three, sometimes four degrees and have the loans to go with them.”
In most situations, these loans are forgiven if the individual remains in the profession for 5? years. Earning a college degree/multiple degrees should be a personal motivation. If the cost of the number of degrees earned is greater than the salary expected, maybe the individual should have thought of that before taking on the additional debt and not expect the taxpayer to foot the cost for these additional degrees.
This is how the private sector operates.
Anonymous says
Well said Liana.
Bill McGuire says
Liana: If nothing else – call the supervisor of elections’ office. Give the respondant your address and they will tell you who your representatives are. Best wishes.
Jim Guines says
Trying to findout which board member represents you is like saying that each member represents every thing and everybody. They only have to live in the district to run, Once they are selected, They have no specific district. That makes it very difficult to hold an individual board member accountible for a specific thing or area of the county. Everyone is responsible for every thing and to everyone. In a way that is almost like saying that everyone is responsible for nothing.
rob says
@ Liana G
Liana G not receiving a return reply from your school board members is typical of many, politicians (not all). When soliciting your vote they are all glad hands, smiles and promises.
On the other hand once in……. you know the rest of the story.
Ryan M says
Thank you to Pierre for the correction of the English teacher. I have never laughed so hard while reading FlaglerLive. (:
In reference to the article, I agree that the salaries should be left as they are currently, perhaps even a decrease. Although I was not present at this meeting, it appears to be very plausible that the salary increase was only discussed to appease administrators or someone felt that the administrators deserve an increase. I can respect the opinion that administrators deserve to be paid a slightly greater sum than teachers, but there is a limit.
On a side note, it would be great to see more faces at school board meetings. I will admit, they can be very boring at times, but I am very happy to have spent the past year watching on television or attending almost all the school board meetings in the past year. Those with this much passion to reprimand school board members on this blog/forum should speak their mind to the board in person. It is amazing how much talking to the board can change their opinion, because they are there to support YOU in the community. The pen may be mightier than the sword, but the voice is mightier than the pen (in my opinion).
Stay Informed, Ryan M. (a former fpchs senior)
P.S. I tried very hard to keep my above comments grammatically correct, but I am only a High School graduate, what do I know?
some guy says
This is just one more reason we need a vouher system for our GOVERNMENT (public) schools. This system seems to care more for its self over the kids you know the ones that it is meant to be for or the shlubs who pay the bills.
Tom Dooly says
Since when does a libarian need $79,000 dollars a year over a $40,000 dollar “blue collar” worker…must be hard work in the a/c all day…lol…They are way “OVER-PAID” ALL OF THEM…Did anyone read the article in the local paper about public employees??? I say “CUT” all the people’s pay who works in a/c all day that will be a big saving’s…let’s face it; it’s “those” people who make way more than they should (for the job they do)…the “blue collar” worker not only does the work they ACTUALLY know’s what’s going on…lol…Sadly though it all starts at the top and when everyone starts talking about “saving money” it’s the ones at the “top” who has to make those “tough” decisions” (LOL) about which employee has to go and guess what it’s “NEVER” their job that the top dog’s consider??? Can’t imagine why; can any of yall??? Palm Coast has finally gotten too big; time to get rid of everyone one that makes over $50,000 dollars a year and get yourself a police dept….Crime is way out of hand; starting to be like new york/jersey….Oh that’s right we have “libarians” now…lol
Tom Dooly
Still Hangin’ Around
palmcoaster says
Tom, we should follow the advise of JimG and call the FBI to investigate in what basis this compensations have been approved by the school board with Dickinson at the head. Was done in Broward County and some heads rolled!
Claudia says
I am appalled at the salaries of the some of the administrators and the dean and guidance counselors’ salaries listed above. Do the investigation!!! Something is wrong!!! We also need to checkout certifications to see if they are aligned with positions and salaries. I know some teachers, deans, and counselors (with the same years experience) who don’t make the same pay as some of their colleagues that are listed above. It appears that some people were just given raises or higher salaries just because! EXPOSE THEM!! DO THE INVESTIGATION!
Ryan M says
A Correction:
On the list of salaries, you have Lynn Bender listed as a Librarian. She is actually a Guidance Counselor at FPCHS. Unless she recently changed her occupation, I believe that may be an error on your salary list Pierre. If I remember correctly, Ms. Moschetti is the head librarian and Ms. Bender is the guidance counselor for many of my friends who have names starting with the letter S-Z that are non-ib students.
Feel free to correct me if I am wrong.
Tom Dooley says
Palmcoaster: By all means; start the investigation and start “At The Top”; and like Claudia says (below your comment); “Check certification” (especially from out of state)…Like any kid will tell you; it is so easy to “print” a certification online nowadays off the internet and turn it in with your application and nobody checks???
Ryan M; So what your saying is a “guidance counselor” deserves $79,000 dollars a year?? For what??? To counsel kid’s??? You have got to be kidding me??? All kids “growing up” experiences pain,death, etc. and most of us “deal” with it and move on; without commiting felonies,etc….It’s called growing up and “learning” from that experience…It all starts at home from the parent’s: not the school…
Now back to the “original” question…Do they deserve a raise??? NO!!!!
Ryan M says
I never said that the guidance counselor deserves $79,000 a year. I just was saying that the list had an error in it and I was trying to help by fixing it. Please do not assume that I am saying things. This is how 75% of arguments begin on blogs. Others assume that a person is in favor of something, when that person never stated an opinion. I’m sorry if my “writing tone” seemed to suggest that I felt that she deserves that much money.
Now for my real opinion. Many of my friends who had Ms. Bender did not have positive feed back. Something you may not know (I use the word may because I will not assume you do not know this) is that Guidance Counselors help students get into college as well as counsel students about life issues. She is a kind lady, but did not correctly submit electronic transcripts for one of my friends, resulting in my friend to almost not be admitted to the college she is going to in the fall. Therefore, I do not believe that Ms. Bender deserves to be paid this salary.
However, I do feel that counselors are some of the most important people in the school. Being a student who had a sister (age 14) pass away during my junior year and see a friends go through personal life threatening situations, I value all the counselors at my school more than you can imagine. My Guidance Counselor was Mr. DeAugustino, who you see is up there on the salary list. I struggle to believe that he does not deserve that income. He helps 100’s of students every year reach the college of their dreams, talk students through their personal problems, notice when students need help, and is one of the most trust-worthy people I know. He creates the schedules for all the freshman students before school starts every year, is the head guidance counselor for the school, and has been a part of our Flagler County School system since before I was a kindergartner.
Do they deserve a raise? No, not at all in the current situation. Some of them don’t even deserve their current salaries. But I do believe that some of those people on that shape students lives in a positive way, which is something that does not have a cash value.
mare says
There’s something wrong with this picture….you can’t afford teachers but you can afford to give raises to non-teachers? Really? How about a reality check! I would be in favor of reducing their salaries by 20% and hire the teachers back.
Val Jaffee says
If the district is really serious about cutting their budget, start by cutting the ones at the top and not the bottom. This will produce maximum savings with minimum loss. There is still a lot of fat here that needs to be trimmed. Let’s see those who are willing to step up for kids! Those who are for kids, and those who are against kids!
Jana DiNatale says
As a current adult student at FTI, I can assure you that we are treated as if we are the 16 year olds’ that roam the halls of our high schools here in Flagler County…meaning that they want us to be clueless, albeit, a handful of us are older than the administrative staff. Take for example in the Medical Assistant classes that started in January of this year, we had a program director named Ms. Weed. Well, she went off on her own adventures…more power to her, and instead of hiring someone from within whom has been there for 5+ years, they get someone named Ms. Bunn, who absolutely created anarchy in the program, extended the program by 6 months, WITHOUT CONSENT on the student’s behalf after said student has a SIGNED CONTRACT stating that the classes are finished Nov 30, 2011..GUESS WHAT??? She has now left as well, to bigger and brighter opportunities. Good for her. Did this, so-called Administration who are listed in this article, i.e., Robert Nocella, Virginia, Giramanti, etc., have the state of mind or the compassion to let us students know our fate? The answer is NO. We were on yet another BREAK from classes, and come back to find out that not ONLY do we have a new instructor, but there has been no one assigned to be the program director. I still do not know WHEN my classes will end, even though I signed up AND PAYING OUT OF MY POCKET for these classes. And they have the audacity of wanting more money in THIS ECONOMY…give me a break. I was 10 days paying late for my classes, even though I gave them a partial payment and said the rest would be paid on Thursday, the 28th. I received a letter through my instructor from Robert Nocella, and I quote ” Please accept this email as notification of your violation to the attendance policy and our schools Satisfactory Academic Progress policy. When a student misses more days then they are permitted they cannot complete the amount of hours needed for completion which violates the SAP policy. If your payments are not done on the dates they are due then your hours will not count toward completion thus putting you in violation of our attendance and SAP policies. Thank you for your attention to this issue. SIGNED ROBERT NOCELLA. Two issues I have a problem with this “so called email”, excuse me I have to laugh hahah, ARE #1, this was given to me by instructor, man oh man, I am sure Bill Gates would LOVE to know how Robert Nocella pulled off an e- mail which was hand delivered…oh a more serious note, I stated to Nocella, which I recorded, that the rest of my monies would be paid on Thursday, the 28th. He received his monies after my bank deposited the money in my account. SOOOOOOOO this is what BULL we are paying this individual to perform on a daily basis. Before I have talked your ear off, DO NOT even try to leave a message for Janet, I make $145,000 Valentine. I left her a message to ask HER, what is going on with the program I am in at FTI. The next day, I received a phone call from Virginia Geramati who stated to me that she was returning my phone call on voice mail. I called her back, and by GOD, I was put through to her. She stated that she received a message from Janet Valentine and asked what I needed. I politely stated, well, I did not leave YOU a message. I left Janet Valentine a message, WHICH I am still waiting for a reciprocity phone call. THIS IS WHAT WE ARE PAYING FOR???!!??? OH MY!! TO the BLESSED, and excellent teachers whom are without a job because of this anarchy…the dedication and devotion you have put forth, I with you all the best. VERY SINCERELY!! DO NOT LET THE 2% GO FORWARD!!!
The HeathenAngel says
While all of this is being disputed, the teachers, and the support staff are being forgotten about.
Are you, any of you aware of what a paraprofessional does throughout their day at the school?
Are any of you aware of just how little they are paid?
A typical paraprofessional makes 14,000 – 14,600 a year, before taxes. Can you feed a family of three on that? Can you pay your mortgage on that? Can you pay your car payments and insurance? How about when you consider that they start deducting 3% this year for this “plan” or 5% for that one?
Now that you have been informed on how little they make, let me tell you what they do.
Often times, due to overcrowded classrooms, they are responsible for most of your child’s education. The teachers work hard, VERY hard to spend some personal/one on one time with each child, but sometimes, because of the ridiculous scheduling, they cannot. So who becomes responsible for that? The paraprofessionals who take that responsibility on. Other than seeing to it that the teachers have support, what else do they do? In many instances, they clean up urine and feces when a child has an accident. They endure physical violence from the children in the classrooms, quite a few walk away with bruises and scars. They continue to work with an individual child who just doesn’t understand the lesson, so that the teacher can continue teaching the rest of the class, uninterrupted. What thanks do they get? Very little.
Administrators snub them and forget their names. When “special recognitions” are handed out, paraprofessionals are overlooked. Oh, but when “special duties” roll around, well, worry not, the administrators remember their names fast enough.
This is not to take away from what teachers endure, but this is to point out that in MANY, MANY cases, if it were not for the classroom paraprofessionals, the teacher would be at a loss for accomplishing the task of the day.
These administrators with their obscene, yearly salaries need to take a look around them and realize who it is that makes their jobs as easy as they are. It’s the teachers and paraprofessionals. But as long as they can drive their Mercedes, wear their $300 shoes and suits, I guess it’s all good.
I got into the education system because I wanted to make a difference. I wanted to help kids.. the more I see, the more disgusted I get.
areyoukidding? says
Let me just say this- those who are looking at these salaries and thinking how in the world could they make so much…. some of these people have been working for the district for 30+ years and have Master’s and Doctorate degrees. They’ve worked their entire adult life to get where they are, why wouldn’t they deserve to be compensated for that? If it was you with that many years in with those kinds of degrees, you would be asking for the raise as well. The majority of you are just looking at the amount of the salary and not taking into consideration that they have worked extremely hard to get where they are today and for most of their lives. Most of our adminsitrators started out in the classroom as teachers and worked their way up to their current positions. If you put in that kind of time amd work, you would expect it to.
areyoukidding? says
The HeathenAngel: Most paraprofessionals do not require degrees of any kind. Have you taken that into consideration. Yes the work is hard but do you think that being a school adminstator is easy as pie? Working in the district office myself, I see day in and day out how much work is put upon the adminstrators here. We’ve had several teachers come and work in our offices and they have all said, “You know, I never realized how much work you guys really do.” NO ONE DOES! That’s the problem. Everyone out at the schools think all we do is sit around and pick our noses all day. I don’t even make a 5th of what our adminstrators make but I bet you on any given day I do more than those most out in the schools.
As far as people driving luxury cars and wearing expensive clothes….. that’s a laugh! Have you seen the cars in the parking lot? My boss drives a regular old car that’s about 10 years old, so what do you have to say about that? Maybe those who are driving these luxury cars were purchased by their significant other who may make 10x more than they do. Did you ever think of that? How about you go out and spend the money to get an Associate’s Bachelor’s, Master’s or Doctorate degree so you can make those obscene yearly salaries that you complain about? When you’ve working the district for 30+ years, with those degrees you’ll be making that kind of obscence yearly salary. Istead of sitting around and complaining about how much you don’t make, go do something about it.
Someone says
Hmm, cut back on the assistant principals at Matanzas. There should only be one assistant principal. And soldiers fighting for their lives don’t even make what these teachers make. There’s the problems.