Cape school officials defend administration pay raises

Cape Girardeau public school administrators will pocket more money in the coming school year and superintendent Dr. David Scala says they deserve it.

Most of the district's 24 administrators, including principals and assistant principals, will receive pay raises of more than 3 percent in the coming school year. Most will receive pay raises of $2,100 or more, salary records show.

But they still will lag behind the salaries paid administrators in some similar-sized districts in the region, Scala said.

Scala also plans to hire a 25th administrator to fill a newly created position of executive director of administrative services. That person will be responsible for personnel, transportation and facilities and maintenance, Scala said.

The school board last month approved the new position as part of an administrative reorganization requested by Scala.

Behind closed doors, the board voted to hire Dennis Heiman, a high school principal in Iowa, for the new position. But he recently declined the position. Heiman would have made a salary of more than $72,000.

Scala said he hopes to have the position filled before the start of classes in August.

Scala received a 2 percent raise as spelled out in his contract. He'll make $135,150 in his second year at the helm of the school district, a $2,650 pay raise.

A few administrators will receive larger pay raises, but that's because of job promotions, school officials said.

Pat Fanger moves up from curriculum director to assistant superintendent. The promotion means a pay raise of more than $18,000 for Fanger, jumping her salary to $89,309.

Roy Merideth will receive a $19,309 pay raise, putting his salary at $62,848. Merideth is moving up from assistant principal to principal at Cape Girardeau Central Junior High School.

Theresa Henkebein will receive a pay raise of more than $13,000, boosting her salary to $54,621. She has been promoted from literacy coach to coordinator of curriculum and instruction.

Brenda McCowan, the district's director of finance, said the public perception is that local school administrators are overpaid.

But both she and Scala said that's not the case. "Overall, we are pretty much behind everybody," McCowan said.

Scala's office compared administrative salaries in the Cape Girardeau, Jackson, Farmington, Sikeston and Poplar Bluff school districts.

In the 2005-2006 school year, the Cape Girardeau high school principal made less than his counterpart in Jackson, Poplar Bluff and Farmington. That was true also for Cape Girardeau's junior high principal.

The middle school principal made less than his counterparts in the Jackson, Sikeston and Farmington school districts. The average salary for elementary principals was $62,423 in the Cape Girardeau school system. But that was still less than the average salaries paid elementary school principals in the Poplar Bluff and Farmington districts, officials said.

"It is always hard to compare different school districts," Scala said. But Cape Girardeau's administrative salaries as well as teacher salaries lag behind those of districts with similar enrollment, he said.

Scala, who has headed up the district since July, said raising teacher and staff salaries remains a priority. "We still have a ways to go," he said.

The district must pay competitive salaries if it wants to attract and keep skilled school administrators, said Scala.

"You need highly qualified people in those positions," he said. "You want to have top administrators because they are the people who provide instructional leadership for the teachers."

The district plans to spend more than $1.5 million on administrative salaries in the coming school year.

Perhaps the biggest bargain for taxpayers is the salary of Gerald Richards. The former teacher and principal served part time as the school's personnel director in the 2005-2006 school year. In the coming school year, he'll serve part time as grants coordinator in the central office.

Unlike other administrators, Richards' won't receive a raise. His salary will remain at $23,266.

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123

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Administrative salaries list for Cape Girardeau School District

Showing 2005-2006 salary and 2006-2007 salary

Dr. David Scala, superintendent

Old salary: $132,500

New salary: $135,150

Pat Fanger, assistant superintendent

Old salary: $71,278

New salary: $89,309

Deena Ring, director of special services

Old salary: $60,101

New salary: $62,354

Brenda McCowan, finance director

Old salary: $63,601

New salary: $65,854

Gerald Richards, grant coordinator (part-time position)

Old salary: $23,266 (as human resources director)

New salary: $23,266

Theresa Henkebein, coordinator curriculum and instruction

Old salary: $41,530 (as literacy coach)

New salary: $54,621

Dr. Mike Cowan, high school principal

Old salary: $80,808

New salary: $83,332

Mark Ruark, high school athletics director

Old salary: $66,115

New salary: $67,438

Scott Kuse, high school assistant principal

Old salary: $53,618

New salary:" $55,763

Al McFerren, high school assistant principal

Old salary: $56,118

New salary: $58,263

Pete Frazier, high school assistant principal

Old salary: $53,118

New salary: $55,263

Roy Merideth, junior high principal

Old salary: $43,539 (as assistant principal)

New salary: $62,848

Allen Bruns, junior high assistant principal

Old salary: NA (Didn't work in the district in the 2005-2006 school year)

New salary: $57,866

Frank Ellis, middle school principal

Old salary: $65,101

New salary: $67,354

Debbie Followell, middle school assistant principal

Old salary: $59,747

New salary: $61,865

Dr. Barbara Kohlfeld, Blanchard School principal

Old salary: $69,802

New salary: $71,198

Rhonda Dunham, Franklin School principal

Old salary: $57,424

New salary: $59,610

Ruth Ann Orr, Alma Schrader School principal

Old salary: $58,924

New salary: $61,110

Sydney Herbst, Clippard School principal

Old salary: $61,924

New salary: $64,110

Mark Cook, Jefferson School principal

Old salary: $62,424

New salary: $64,610

Mike Dorris, director of the Alternative School

Old salary: $52,393

New salary: $54,376

Rich Payne, director of the Career and Technology Center

Old salary: $71,455

New salary: $73,843

Dean Whitlow, assistant director of the Career and Technology Center

Old salary: $55,247

New salary: $57,365

Tim Pensel, vocational coordinator of the Career and Technology Center

Old salary: $54,570

New salary: $56,621

SOURCE: Cape Girardeau School District