Superintendent gets good grades, must wait for raise

The School Board is pleased with the work of John Sanders, but decides to wait a week before determining his pay raise.

By ROBERT KING

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 8, 2000

BROOKSVILLE -- Superintendent John Sanders has been given what looks like the best report card in his five years with the Hernando County schools. The question remains, though, whether that will translate into a big pay raise.

Each year, School Board members rank Sanders' performance on a scale of 1 to 5: One is satisfactory and 5 is excellent. This year, Sanders received a 4.4, according to an unofficial tally by the St. Petersburg Times. It tops his 4.3 score of 1999 and is well above his lowest rating of 3.2 in 1997.

Board members used the handwritten evaluations to praise Sanders for his involvement in the community, his concern for students and his strong character. "I am pleased with the evaluation, and I am glad it reflects what I felt was the attitude of the School Board," Sanders said. "It makes it real when it's put on paper."

If Sanders has a weakness, more than one board member noted, it may rest in not keeping his staff focused on the directions they receive from the School Board.

He also received some mild criticism regarding the timeliness of information board members get.

In a workshop Tuesday, all five board members expressed their desire to renew Sanders' contract for another year. But they put off making a decision on Sanders' pay raise until next week.

Sanders' current salary is $92,752.

In discussing his pay with the School Board, Sanders said it is far below that of the superintendent in Citrus County, which he refers to as Hernando's "sister district."

Citrus Superintendent Pete Kelly will earn $98,910 during the 2000-01 school year. His school district is smaller than Sanders' by more than 1,500 students. One major difference between the two jobs: the Citrus superintendent is elected by voters; the Hernando superintendent is appointed by the School Board.

Sanders contends that, if he were an elected superintendent, he would be due for $106,000 next year under salary guidelines the Legislature sets for elected officials. Those guidelines take into account a district's size.

Hernando's School Board probably won't be that generous.

Board Chairman Jim Malcolm said he would not support a raise for Sanders, or any other administrator, that exceeds the highest dollar amount increase being given this year to a teacher. That would mean no more than $3,262. For Sanders, it would mean a 3.5 percent increase.

Board member Sandra Nicholson said the raise might need to be more ambitious than that to keep Sanders' pay competitive with other districts in Florida. She asked Sanders to provide more information on the going rates in other counties.

Board member Robert Wiggins agreed that a raise of about $3,200 is proportionally much lower for someone with a $90,000 salary than it is for someone with a $40,000 salary. He suggested that Sanders receive a 5 percent raise to mirror the 5 percent being proposed for principals and other administrators.

For Sanders, a 5 percent boost would amount to $4,637 and push his salary to $97,389.

Weeks before the contract and salary discussions began, Sanders gave board members a 17-item list of events and achievements he's overseen during the 1999-00 school year.

Those included the massive planning effort for the county's fourth high school, the successful opening of Chocachatti Elementary, successful navigation of the Y2K threat, one of the best audit reports in years, a new self-insurance plan for the district's employees and a long-term contract to save energy in district buildings.

-- Times staff writer Barbara Behrendt contributed to this report.

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