By Ben Rodgers
Editor
GREEN BAY – The price tag for Green Bay’s new superintendent may seem steep to some, but to others it’s a fair price to pay for the leader of the fourth-largest school district in Wisconsin.
The Green Bay school board approved Stephen Murley’s contract Wednesday, April 15, after meeting in closed session. It calls for $220,000 annually for two years, plus benefits.
“I don’t think that’s outside the market at all,” said Jon Bales, executive director of the Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators (WASDA). “I would gather in the five largest districts that’s a pretty modest salary. Salaries for superintendents in Wisconsin, generally compared to the nation, are relatively modest.”
According to information from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, last updated May 31, 2019, Murley’s rate puts him as the fourth-highest paid superintendent in the state, behind the leaders of school districts in Milwaukee, Madison and Racine.
He is also the only superintendent in the five largest districts to not have a doctorate degree.
“What’s important in any hire is it’s a good match between the skill set, experience levels of the individual and what the needs are of the district,” Bales said. “I think the board has done a good job trying to search for someone who can meet the needs and priorities of the district. He brings considerable experience and knowledge to the job.”
WASDA represents all superintendents in Wisconsin and has an eye on the issues all districts are dealing with, especially larger ones like Green Bay.
Urban districts are losing students to open enrollment, have concerns over special education funding, are facing decisions on consolidation, and on top of that, are working with one of the most complex funding formulas in the nation, Bales said.
The role of a superintendent is to act as CEO of a district and manage these concerns among others, he said.
“In fairness, too often the public and often school boards, it might be their first experience in thinking about executive pay and what the market looks like,” Bales said. “I understand people look at the number and think that’s significant, but given the scope of the job and what the market demands of an executive like that, these are relatively modest salaries for school executives.”
Green Bay school board trustee Rhonda Sitnikau cast the lone dissenting vote on April 15.
She also voted against Murley being selected for the job.
“I believe that especially in a time when we are in a pandemic reality, if you want to talk about tax base, think about all of the people out there who are unemployed, who don’t have the jobs and the support of income they used to, and may not in the same capacity for a very long time and yet we’re using that to be able to determine salary,” Sitnikau said.
She also called the contract negotiation process “convoluted” and “Machiavellian.”
“The board should be brought in the entire time or be made aware or briefed,” Sitnikau said. “That’s how you build consensus. That’s how you’re able to make sure you have all members’ voices at the table, and the more important part of that conversation is that you know you are having representatives voicing on that conversation, because we ultimately represent the community.”
Sitnikau said she is not alone in her concerns.
“I’ve had these thoughts, and I’ve heard from a lot of people as well,” she said. “It’s not as if I’m shouting from the rooftops. I’m carrying peoples’ voices with me when I speak to this.”
Murley’s contract is the third superintendent contract school board president Brenda Warren has negotiated.
“I thought it was a good process,” Warren said. “There was obviously some concern, but i felt it was a good process. In the end (there were) requests for a closed session so board members could get a little bit more information and ask their questions, so we went ahead and arranged that, but I think the process was pretty typical from previous processes that we’ve used.”
She said the other two superintendent contracts she’s been involved in went smoother than Murley’s, but the previous two superintendents were also approved with a unanimous vote.
Trustees Andrew Becker and Kristina Shelton also voted against hiring Murley.
Warren said Murley’s pay, when he takes the helm in July, is on par with the services he will provide.
“You talk about CEOs of large corporations, which we are certainly with 3,000 employees, that strategic leadership is so critically important in a district our size, especially in terms of creating systems and framework to lead effectively,” she said.