Does Superintendent Brent Jones Deserve a Raise?

Jones' two-year contract is up and the Board is now negotiating with him to stay on. I have heard no talk of him walking away. There are several issues to consider.

The number one issue is - where would the money come from for a raise? 

Interestingly, at last night's Board meeting, the principals' contract item on the agenda had been pulled. Earlier in the day I had written to the head of Budget, Linda Sebring, and asked her this:

So the PASS contract seems - to me - like a replay of the SEA contract. Meaning, a contract that SPS cannot afford.

I looked at your budget presentation and was surprised to see on the Expenditures by State Activity page, that the principals’ budget had already been gone up from 2022-2023 to 2023-2024 by about $4M.

Now I know that bump up is not all that money going to salaries but for principal supported activities.

As well, the Board voted to negotiate with Superintendent Jones for his contracted salary. If he gets a raise, where are those dollars coming from?

I have not received a reply yet.

To me, it's just another lack of transparency from the district. They KNOW these contracts are coming up so why hasn't this been included in the discussion around well-resourced schools?

The third issue is, of course, does Jones deserve a raise? I would say no especially in light of serious safety concerns. 

Yesterday the district put out a press release about an award from District Administration.com. It's a group that supports superintendents. They announced that Brent Jones had made their list of "DA 100 education influencers." They say:

Seattle Public Schools Superintendent Brent Jones is dedicated to ensuring all students thrive by transforming organizational culture and redesigning preK-12 systems and supports. In his former position as Seattle Public Schools chief equity, partnerships and engagement officer, he developed the district’s strategy for eliminating opportunity gaps and the roadmap for realizing racial equity for students and families.

I would agree that Jones IS very dedicated. It doesn't make him a great superintendent. You'll note they didn't really say any specific idea/program that Jones created. 

I don't think getting an award from a group whose job it is is to support your type of work is something that needs a press release.  (This happened to the Board a couple of boards back from some school board group that was also a dot-com.)

Meanwhile, over in Wenatchee, their superintendent, Kory Kalahar, also with a two-year interim contract, got the permanent job AND declined a raise.  From NewsRadio 560 KPQ:

Notably, Kalahar has turned down a cost of living pay increase in his new contract, which goes into effect Monday. Kalahar was scheduled to receive an Implicit Price Deflator (IPD) wage increase but has declined to accept the increase.

It was Kalahar who inherited a budget shortfall that began in 2022 when there was a misstep during the transition between Gordon and Eagle. Staff failed to identify a reduction in state and federal funding and the district later realized there was a $9 million dollar budgeting error that put the district in a financial hole. 

Kalahar has been at the helm as the district has had to make major cuts, including the closure this year of Columbia Elementary School.

Thoughts?