Millions Spent On School District Leadership Teams
NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) - After a Consumer Justice investigation into the perks found in superintendent salaries, many viewers wanted to know if other administrators were receiving the same bonuses. While they don't get the perks, they do get six-figure salaries.
For example, there are 14 assistant, area, and deputy superintendents at Grand Prairie ISD. Each makes between $140,000 and $222,000 a year. That's a total of $2.7 million dollars.
Ross Kesceg, a member of a conservative non-profit taxpayer watchdog group, says it seems excessive. "If a Fortune 500 company wants to waste money with a bunch of mid-level management that they don't need, that's their money, but this is taxpayer money."
Alton Frailey says one person can't possibly do everything, especially in larger districts. Frailey is a longtime superintendent who is currently working on an interim basis for Nacogdoches ISD. "The need in terms of performance academically, you've got to have the support in place for that. As I'm sitting here talking to you, someone out there is doing something they shouldn't be doing, and I have to have someone out there taking care of that."
Grand Prairie's leadership team is larger than that of Fort Worth ISD and Dallas ISD, despite being a much smaller district. GPISD's school board president says the district "limits administrative costs" and exceeds state standards.