'Totally inappropriate' for CBE to put superintendents on salary grid, trustee candidate says
'Especially at a time when they are cutting funding to classrooms and bus service,' Lisa Davis says
Calgary's public school board acted inappropriately and irresponsibly by voting behind closed doors to put senior administrators on a pay grid, according to trustee candidate Lisa Davis.
Minutes of the last meeting of the school year on June 27 show that Calgary Board of Education trustees voted, during an in-camera session, to place all superintendents on a fixed salary grid.
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"What that means is they have automatic increases based on years of service," said Davis, who's running against Patricia Bolger in Wards 6 and 7.
The minutes from the meeting were made public in late September, which is when Davis learned of the change.
"[It is] totally inappropriate for the board to move executives to a salary grid, especially at a time when they are cutting funding to classrooms and bus service," Davis said.
"The norm for any organization, for their senior leadership, is that they're paid based on either experience or expertise, or performance pay as well is often a component of that."
Board says not automatic raises
The board disputes Davis' claims and says some administrators received small raises because of the move to the Executive Employee Compensation model grid, but would not specify the amount.
The board also said trustees voted to freeze grid movement until further action is taken, no later than April 30, 2018. That means no automatic raises at this time.
Once the freeze is over, the senior administrators will still face a performance review prior to receiving a raise.
Parent and education advocate Larry Leach says it's still a troublesome move.
"It's easy to say, 'well, there's no raises so no problem.' But every time someone moves up that pay grid, it costs the public a lot more money."
Both Leach and Davis say the commitment made by the current board will cause financial problems for the new board, which will be elected Oct. 16.
According to a compensation disclosure document produced by the CBE's budget and finance office, the six full-time equivalent superintendents are paid salaries of $210,000 to $240,999.