An Arizona lawmaker wants to make school superintendents easier for the public to review after an ABC15 investigation into top school administrators’ salaries and perks.
ABC15’s investigation in September looked at superintendent contracts for 84 Arizona public school districts. Our reporting found most superintendents received thousands of dollars of extra compensation like car allowances, performance bonuses, lump-sum stipends, and tax-deferred retirement accounts in addition to state pensions.
After calculating base salary and maximum perk potential, about a dozen superintendents can make more than $300,000 a year.
“I think the public should know what is the total compensation package of the top leader of a district,” said state Representative Matt Gress, a Phoenix Republican who chairs the House Education Committee.
Gress, who is also a former school board member, said superintendent contracts are often negotiated in closed-door executive sessions.
“As long as we keep that multi-page, small, fine print contract secret, then our leaders won't have to answer for a pretty big decision that they're making,” Gress said.
Several states, including Indiana, Arkansas, Illinois, Michigan, and Nebraska, have laws requiring superintendents’ contracts to be posted on their school districts’ websites. Gress said Arizona should follow suit.
“I'll be dropping a bill to do that next January,” Gress said.
A handful of Arizona school districts, including Flagstaff Unified, Paradise Valley, Liberty Elementary, have already voluntarily posted their superintendent contracts for easy public access.
“This is my ninth school year serving this great district and community,” Flagstaff superintendent Mike Penca said. “I think it's just the way we've done it since I got here, and I think it's a good practice.”
Gress also questioned whether school boards can make objective decisions on granting superintendents’ performance bonuses, which can be up to 20% on top of their base salary.
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“They have a vested interest in that relationship with the superintendent,” Gress said. He is exploring options to require a neutral third party, such as the Arizona Auditor General Office, to assess superintendent performance.
“They're an umpire,” Gress said. “They call balls and strikes, and I think that's what we need in this process.”
Democratic state Rep. Brian Garcia said, as a former school board member, he felt his school district had robust and public discussion about administrators' compensation. However, he said he’d like to look at the full implications of Gress’s proposed bills.
“Certainly, [I’m] open to making sure we're having a transparent process and accessibility,” Garcia said, “but what does that look like in practice and reality?”
Superintendent Penca said his district strives for transparency in operations and finances.
“I think that's important to really establishing and maintaining that public trust,” Penca said.
You can reach Melissa by email at melissa.blasius@abc15.com or call 602-803-2506. Follow her on X @MelissaBlasius or Facebook.
