Bob Smallridge
Their first attempt to hire a new school superintendent ended after four of five finalists withdrew, and Oak Ridge Board of Education members learned Monday that bumping the potential pay range up to $175,000 per year could attract new candidates and better reflect market conditions.
The board approved the recommendation to offer a higher salary in a 5-0 vote during a special meeting Monday. The board also agreed to have executive search firm Ray and Associates of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, contact previously interested candidates with the new pay information, reset the application deadline to March 1, and set a start date for the new superintendent of no later than June 15.
The potential salary range for a new superintendent had earlier been set at $140,000 to $150,000, but two finalists from a search that started in June withdrew, citing salary issues, among other things, and a third apparently would have had to take a $6,000 to $8,000 pay cut to take the Oak Ridge superintendent’s job.
Don Long, Tennessee regional search associate for Ray and Associates, said the $175,000 salary level could allow the Oak Ridge school system to attract high-caliber candidates. It would also move the school system from 13th to 6th in the state in superintendent pay.
“It just opens the door to a new level,†Long said, although he acknowledged that it could create some “sticker shock†in Oak Ridge, which hasn’t had to hire a new superintendent in a decade.
Long said candidates often want to earn an extra $15,000 to $20,000 per year before they agree to move.
“We’re going to keep this process going until we find a candidate that you are comfortable with,†Long said. “We have had a lot of interest in Oak Ridge.â€
Also Monday, school board members hired former superintendent Bob Smallridge as interim superintendent. Smallridge was Oak Ridge schools superintendent from 1978-1998. He has agreed to serve as interim as long as he is needed or through June.
Smallridge will earn $10,000 per month, and he officially started Tuesday. Besides serving as Oak Ridge superintendent, he has also been an interim superintendent in Campbell County and Clinton.
The last superintendent, Tom Bailey, retired at the end of the year. He had been superintendent since 2002.
Sam Hopwood says
“It just opens the door to a new level.” Well I guess so. $175K for a super for one high school, two middle and four elementary schools? Are we really dumb enough to do this? The short answer is YES! Only in Oak Ridge…. Oh, BTW… Is not our city manager’s salary about $135K?
Andrew Howe says
Let’s crunch some numbers, shall we.
Assuming the super has to work 40 hrs a week, all year long, the $175K salary translates to about $84 per hour. That’s some kinda wage for the times.
Now, something makes me think that during three months of the year a super might not have to work as much, making his hourly rate even greater.
Personally, I’m appalled by the greed of people these days. I pay my manual laborers $20 or more an hour when I use them. I make around $30 hour myself, as a software engineer, which is a rather specialized skill. ANYone can easily live on that wage, so when someone comes along asking for $80/hr for something, he better damn well be about the only person capable of doing that job.
Administering a school system surely has it’s share of specialized knowledge, but mostly I’d imagine it’s administrative – basic organization skills, keep your t’s crossed and i’s dotted sort of work. Further, I suspect, like lawyers, the people actually DOING the real work isn’t even the super, it’s his assistants and people further down the line.
If you want someone to do what seems to me a pretty straightforward administration job for less than $175k, I’m sure they can be found EASILY. Half the town of Oak Ridge would likely do it for $60k.
Oak Ridge, now’s not the time to pay for a Mercedes Benz when we can get a new Nissan that’ll work just as well.
I’m kinda tired of our greedy, selfish culture. The TEACHERS need good pay, not the suits above them. Any suit that wants more than twice a teacher’s salary should be marked as out-of-the-running on the grounds of “your heart’s not in the right place because this is a public school system and you should be concerned about the kids education quality more than your own bank acct.”
Hire me. I WANT job where money’s not the goal, but doing something GOOD for the world IS. I can survive on $30k a year. Easily at this point. I have a 160 IQ, a BS from MIT, and 40 years of life experience interacting with both suits and laborers, and I’m an organizational wonderkin (neat freaks know how to get their ducks in a row, trust me).
And there’s MANY people like me out there willing to do this kind of work more for the appeal of serving the community than for the dough.
Find one of us and quit looking for ways to make the bloody school system a longer thorn in the side of our city budget. Hell, you have a legion of teachers with direct school experience. Many of them would probably do really well in the slot and be thankful to get out of the classroom and for a lot less pay than $175
If you pay $175k for a new guy here’s what I think will happen. He’ll work here for a few years, then retire and leave us in the same position.