Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

New principals, administrators to receive higher pay

SMITHFIELD

Isle of Wight County’s School Board recently approved a new pay scale for the 2018-2019 school year, which specifies significantly higher starting salaries for principals and some central office positions.

According to the new pay scale chart, as of July 1, newly hired principals at the elementary level will earn a minimum of $86,000 annually, a nearly $20,000 increase over the position’s previous minimum salary of $66,397. For middle school principals, the minimum rises from $69,758 to $86,000, and for high school principals, from $73,290 to $92,000.

No increases to the minimum salaries for teachers on steps 0-30+ were instituted, and in fact, any new teachers entering the school system on steps 2-28 after July 1 will earn approximately $1,000 less than had they entered during the 2017-2018 school year. Lynn Briggs, the division’s director of community and media relations, explained that teachers on steps 2-28 who are currently employed by Isle of Wight County Schools will remain at whatever salary they had at the end of the 2017-2018 school year. She described the change in teacher pay as an adjustment to keep everything in line with where it should be.

Starting pay for assistant principals at the elementary school level rises from $57,254 to $69,000. At the middle school level, the minimum rises from $60,153 to $69,000 and at the high school level, from $63,197 to $72,000.

In the division’s central office, the minimum starting pay for assistant directors rises from $57,254 to $69,000, from $63,197 to $75,000 for coordinators, from $69,758 to $95,000 for directors, and from $76,999 to $105,000 for executive directors. The minimum assistant superintendent salary also rises from $80,898 to $115,000.

According to Briggs, the increases in minimum salaries for principals and administrators apply only to new hires for the 2018-2019 school year. As such, the new figures do not translate into raises for employees currently in these positions.

“Going forward, new hires would be compensated more competitively based on years of experience,” she said. “We conducted a compensation study that looked at administrative salaries around the region to see if IWCS was competitive with area school divisions. We also looked at the change in salary for a 10-month employee (teacher) moving to a 12-month administrative position. We noticed that, in some cases, a person would actually make less per month if they became a 12-month administrator than if they stayed on the 10-month scale. Bottom line, we realized we needed to be more competitive with our admin scale in order to attract highly qualified candidates to our division and/or these positions.”

Most of the increases to starting salaries were accompanied by a decrease in maximum earning potential.

For assistant principals, the maximum salary was reduced from $91,607 to $83,560 at the elementary school level, from $91,607 to $83,560 at the middle school level and from $101,115 to $86,560 at the high school level. For principals, the maximum salary was reduced from $106,235 to $100,560 at the elementary school level, from $111,613 to $100,560 at the middle school level and from $117,264 to $106,560 at the high school level.

For assistant directors, the maximum salary was reduced from $91,607 to $83,560. For coordinators, the maximum was reduced from $101,115 to $89,560. For directors, the maximum was reduced from $111,613 to $109,560 and for executive directors, from $123,199 to $119,560. The assistant superintendent position, however, did not see an accompanying decrease in maximum earning potential along with its hike in starting salary. Instead, this position’s maximum increased from $129,436 to $129,560. A complete list of minimum and maximum salaries for all positions for the 2017-2018 school year and the 2018-2019 school year can be found at: https://www.iwcs.k12.va.us/apps/pages/employment.

Briggs explained that the reductions in maximum salaries along with the increases in starting pay were both done to make Isle of Wight County Schools more in line with other divisions and also to provide more consistency with salaries for similar positions, while allowing flexibility for years of experience. She added that no employees had been at their maximum salary, and so none will realize a reduction in pay due to the new scale.

The compensation study focused on school divisions in Region II, which extends from Southampton County to the Eastern Shore, Virginia Beach and the Willliamsburg-James City County area, Briggs said. She also confirmed that none of the changes to Isle of Wight’s pay scale necessitated any re-budgeting.

Windsor Weekly obtained administrative salary ranges for several neighboring public school divisions, and found that:

• Isle of Wight did, in fact, offer a lower minimum salary for principals compared to Suffolk City Public Schools during the 2017-2018 school year. However, its minimum salaries for assistant principals were already slightly higher than Suffolk’s before the 2018-2019 pay scale was announced. The new pay scale makes the minimum salaries for principals and assistant principals in Isle of Wight County Schools approximately $8,000 to $16,000 higher than Suffolk. Suffolk has a population of around 90,000 for its tax base and a total student enrollment of over 14,000. Isle of Wight, by comparison, has a population of around 36,500 for its tax base and a total enrollment of around 5,500 students. Suffolk also offered higher minimum salaries for its coordinators, directors, executive directors and assistant superintendent than Isle of Wight during the 2017-2018 school year, but now with Isle of Wight’s new pay scale, Isle of Wight’s new minimums for these positions range from approximately $5,000 to $15,000 higher than Suffolk. However, Isle of Wight’s maximums for these positions remain below Suffolk’s.
• Compared to Franklin City Public Schools, Isle of Wight’s 2017-2018 minimum salaries for principals and assistant principals were already between $5,000 to $13,000 higher. Franklin, by comparison, has a population of around 8,000 for its tax base and receives less funding from the state based on its school division’s total student enrollment of only around 1,100 students. Its starting pay for directors was around $10,000 higher and its minimum salary for an assistant superintendent was about $15,000 higher. Now, with the new pay scale approved, Isle of Wight’s new minimum salary for principals will be around $30,000 higher than Franklin and its minimum for assistant principals will be around $17,000 higher than Franklin. The minimum for directors in Isle of Wight will be approximately $35,000 higher than Franklin and the new minimum salary for Isle of Wight’s assistant superintendent position, $115,000, will be near the maximum of $118,675 offered by Franklin for its equivalent deputy superintendent position.
• Some of Isle of Wight’s new minimum salaries for administrative positions are also now higher than minimums for equivalent positions in Norfolk Public Schools. Norfolk, by comparison, has over 200,000 residents forming its tax base and receives significantly more funding from the state based on its approximately 31,500 total students. A comparison of Isle of Wight’s 2018-2019 pay scale compared to Norfolk’s for the coming school year, minimum salaries for principals in the county range from approximately $7,000 to $20,000 higher than the minimum for principals in Norfolk, depending on whether they work 11 or 12 months and at the elementary, middle school or high school level. The minimum salary for executive directors at Isle of Wight County Schools is approximately $14,000 to $25,000 higher than equivalent positions in Norfolk Public Schools, depending on whether said employees work 11 months or 12 months. However, Isle of Wight’s maximum salary caps for each of these positions in the county remain below Norfolk’s.