DIRECTOR SALARY HIKE
Public board tweaks pay
According to a new executive compensation program being developed for the province, Greater Essex County District School Board director Erin Kelly is underpaid.
Kelly, who was listed as having made $207,445 on the Sunshine List released last spring, would be in line for a pay raise of at least $17,000 under the proposed pay grid for school boards.
“It does appear she’s underpaid compared to some of the other boards (in the province) and comparable persons in our area,” said Kim McKinley, chair of the public board’s trustees.
“I do know in comparison to our co-terminus board (Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board) there’s a difference even though we are the larger board, she said. “What that’s going to eventually look like under this plan, I don’t know.”
Kelly presides over a school board that has about 15,000 more students than the Catholic board, but was paid 10 per cent or about $20,000 less than now retired WECDSB director of education Paul Picard ($227,332 in base salary) for 2016. However, Picard gave up some benefits for the higher base pay.
The new plan is part of a larger look by the province at executive pay for universities, colleges, hospitals and other public institutions.
The program is being developed to try to create similar compensation packages across the province for boards and organizations of similar size and complexities.
“It really won’t have much impact on us (financially),” said Barb Holland, chair of trustees for the Catholic board. “We’re happy we more or less have been doing what the ministry is going to ask us to do. ”
Other than Kelly, everyone else at both boards to be affected by the changes already falls within the proposed pay bands.
Under the proposed plan, the Catholic board is classified as a Level 4 organization compared to Level 5 for the Greater Essex board. Level 4 directors will earn between $208,000 and $257,000 while Level 5 directors fall between $224,000 and $277,000.
Level 7 is the highest level on the pay grid and the director of such an organization would make between $255,000 and $316,000.
The suggested pay band for Level 5 superintendents of education is $140,000 to $194,000.
Level 4 superintendents earn between $140,0000 and $185,000.
The wide variances in suggested pay bands allow for varied compensation based on differences in an individual’s experience, tenure, skills and other factors within the board.
Holland said the changes also help boards better attract and retain executive talent after seven years of a provincially mandated executive pay freeze.
“We were looking at a situation where a principal was going to have to take a pay cut to become a superintendent of education,” he said.
The province is increasing the executive compensation packet for all 72 of Ontario’s school boards by five per cent. It’ll be up to each board to determine how to use the money.
In 2016-17 the public board paid just over $1.6-million on executive pay and benefits while the Catholic board spent about $1.4-million.
The public board is gathering input on the plan on its website (publicboard.ca) until Jan. 13. The Catholic board is expected to approve the new plan at its Jan. 16 meeting.