The Rocky View Schools (RVS) superintendent will continue to be paid $12,000 over a newly introduced school board salary cap. The minister of education, David Eggen, announced the new policy to cap school board leaders' salaries across the province last week after a review suggested many were being paid too much. However, the policy won't affect current contracts including that of RVS superintendent Greg Luterbach – currently being paid $215, 000 with no added bonunses – who has three years remaining on his contract with the district. Under the new policy, superintendents are categorized into five levels depending on the size and scope of their jurisdiction. From there, a minimum, board maximum and absolute maximum (must have "exceptional" reasons for a higher salary and must be approved by the minister) is set out. Luterbach falls into Level 4 - the second highest paid category – which mandates a superintendent can receive a maximum of $203,000 in wages and bonuses by the school board. However, if the RVS board feels Luterbach should receive more then he could receive up to $228,000 in the "absolute maximum," but it has to be approved by the minister of education. "Requests for approval to pay above the school board maximum should only be made in exceptional cases, such as to recognize unique recruitment challenges. These requests will be required to go through a specific process, which will be outlined to school boards in the future," the policy states. Should his contract renew after the three years of his remaining contract is up, then he could be subject to a $12, 000 pay cut. “Introducing this compensation framework ensures Albertans’ expectations of fair and reasonable compensation for education leaders will be met," Eggen said. "Clear limits for superintendent pay will help ensure public funds continue to be put where they can do the most good for Alberta’s students, while ensuring boards can continue to recruit top leaders.” Todd Brand, chair of the RVS board of trustees said RVS is still working through the "finer" details of the policy and what it will mean for their superintendent. "For now there are no changes to our superintendent's salary for several years. We feel that the salary we have already designated our superintendent to be fair and we are glad to hear we are already in the government determined range," Brand said, pointing out that Luterbach does not receive more than the absolute maximum in the grid system. "Our superintendent handles tremendous responsibility with excellence. He administers a budget that exceeds a quarter of a billion dollars and supervises a staff of 2400 persons. By comparison, very few companies in Alberta have a staff that large. Not only does the division leader need to be an education expert they must be highly skilled at business and organizational leadership." The findings from the education minister's review showed some unidentified superintendents in the province were given added benefits to their salaries including $10,000 per year for their children's post-secondary education, $1,200 per year for a gym membership, $25,000 for “executive compensation” fund that could be taken as cash, RRSP, or health spending account and $10,000 per year for “incidental” costs with no further details. There were 17 contracts that had severance pay agreements equivalent of up to one year’s full salary. Chris MacPhee, the president of the College of Alberta School Superintendents (CASS), said the organization had been working with the province from the outset of the review process. "While not all of CASS’ recommendations for a new structure were adopted by the government in this review, our superintendents remain fully dedicated to overseeing and managing the schools where our children thrive," MacPhee said. "We will work with the government to ensure the new structure is properly implemented across the province and that our collective energy remains focused on our students. CASS will not be making any further statements on this matter at this time."
