Board won’t boost pay offer for new superintendent

The Clark County School Board is sticking with a $270,000 salary as it looks for a successor to Superintendent Walt Rulffes.

The board on Thursday decided to ignore advice from its search firm, Jacobson & McPherson, to add a performance bonus to increase the salary range to $325,000 to $340,000. Tom Jacobson, a principal of the firm, said some prospective candidates have told him they would have to take a pay cut to come here.

School Board President Terri Janison quoted research from the Council of Great City Schools that the average salary for a large urban school district is $270,000 with the high of $328,000 and a low of $250,000.

"I think we're in the ballpark," said board member Sheila Moulton. "I think the cost of living here is extremely reasonable."

Of the 10 largest school districts, only Houston has a cheaper cost of living than Clark County, said board member Carolyn Edwards.

Audience members reminded the board that superintendents in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago earn less than $270,000, making from $230,000 to $250,000.

"Why don't you lower (the salary) to $230,000?" asked Kevinn Donovan, a parent and a candidate for the state Assembly. "Where's that motion?"

In its motion, the School Board clarified that the maximum salary offered would be $270,000 with the pay subject to negotiation.

The board voted 6-0 for the $270,000 salary. Janison abstained because her husband, KVBC-TV weatherman Kevin Janison, works for station owner Jim Rogers, who has applied for the superintendent's job. Rogers, a former chancellor of the Nevada System of Higher Education, has offered to work for free.

The deadline for superintendent applications is Wednesday.

The board plans to announce the top three candidates at 3 p.m. Sept. 16, an hour before its regular board meeting. It plans to invite the three finalists to Las Vegas during the following week for interviews and to meet with the public, district employees, and business and community groups.

The board has set a goal of making its selection in October.

In other business related to district salaries, Ruben Murillo, the president of the Clark County Education Association, the teachers union, urged the board to use its $54 million in federal funding from the Education Jobs legislation to restore teachers' longevity-based raises. These pay raises were frozen this year because of budget cuts.

Rulffes said his plan is to use the funding to create as many as 900 jobs. The board will discuss his plan Sept. 2.

Contact reporter James Haug at jhaug @reviewjournal.com or 702-374-7917.