School Committee Signs Contract with Dr. Alberto Rodriguez
We are looking forward to the arrival of our new Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Alberto Rodriguez on July 1, and we are pleased that contract negotiations with him are settled. Dr. Rodriguez’s FY10 salary will be $158,000. The School Committee is aware that the superintendent's salary is a matter of great interest and potential controversy, particularly in tight budget times.
Unfortunately, we cannot wish away the laws of supply and demand and ignore the realities of the labor market. This is a challenging time in which to hire a superintendent. The pool is limited, and there are many districts seeking leadership – over 50 in Massachusetts alone this year. And our district, while having many positive attributes, also offers challenges that many others do not. All of this means that it’s a “seller’s market” – it’s more difficult and more costly than it used to be to hire a superintendent for our schools, and for most others.
It does not make sense to compare former superintendent Hochman’s FY08 salary to the one negotiated with Dr. Rodriguez two years later – especially since Dr. Hochman did not accept raises during two of the five years he worked in Amherst. While this was a nice gesture, and this is in no way a criticism of Dr. Hochman, it did mean that we faced some “sticker shock” when we went back out into the open market for superintendents. Dr. Hochman was making $135,000 when he left – but he left for a position paying $262,000.
We are actually three distinct districts. In addition to our regional middle and high school district, our superintendent also manages two other, separate districts: Amherst elementary schools and Pelham. So that's three school committees, three budgets to prepare, three accounting systems (fifty eight district employees have their pay divided among two or three separate paychecks because they work for two or three of the districts), four town meetings, and so on. Regional districts take more work, so it is not unusual for their superintendent salaries to be higher: e.g., Acton-Boxboro $175,000, Hamilton-Wenham $175,000, Hampden-Wilbraham $148,000, Hampshire Regional $150,000, Mendon-Upton $151,000, Pentucket $171,000, Whitman-Hanson $158,000.
Our academic peer districts pay even more: Brookline pays $198,000, Newton pays $248,000. When the Committee first met with the search consultant, Jacqueline Roy, she informed us that based on the market, our district needed to plan for a salary of at least $150,000. This amount was reflected in our initial FY10 budget documentation, apportioned as follows: 50% Region, 47% Amherst, 3% Pelham.
In addition to the base salary, an additional benefits package is given to 80% of Massachusetts superintendents (according to MA Superintendents’ Association data); Dr. Rodriguez will have a housing and a travel allowance totaling $15,000, allowances that are not provided beyond FY11. This is about the same dollar amount that Dr. Hochman received in additional benefits, and is significantly lower than packages paid by many other high-achieving districts.
Are we happy about paying this amount of money for a superintendent? No. Are we convinced, based on the pay scales in comparable districts and the specific challenges offered by ours, that this is a fair salary in the current labor market? Yes. Our district needs leadership to move forward. By all reports from those who have worked with him, Dr. Rodriguez has the skills and temperament to provide it. He will have a great deal of work to do and high expectations to meet when he arrives, and the school committee will work with him to ensure that our schools are continuously improving and in sync with community expectations.
We hope the community will join us in welcoming Dr. Rodriguez and working for his – and hence the districts’ – success going forward. CONTACT: Michael Hussin, Chair, Amherst-Pelham Regional School Committee hussinm@arps.org Andy Churchill, Chair, Amherst School Committee churchilla@arps.org Kathryn Mazur, HR Director, Amherst-Pelham Regional Schools mazurk@arps.org