Administrators could get big raises

Three Broward school employees may temporarily fill vacant jobs though two don’t meet requirements

Three Broward school administrators could get huge raises to temporarily fill vacant jobs, even though two don’t meet the minimum job requirements.

Superintendent Robert Runcie plans to ask the Broward County School Board to “task assign,” or temporarily appoint, the three administrators at Tuesday’s meeting. The jobs can last up to six months under district rules and can be renewed by the School Board after that.

Mary Ann May, 49, who now makes $113,000 as the district’s fire chief, has been recommended to temporarily serve as chief of facilities, with a salary of $145,000, a 28 percent boost. The facilities chief oversees construction, maintenance and environmental and life safety issues. But May, who spent most of her career in safetyrelated jobs in the district and at Auburn University in Alabama, doesn't have the required 10 years of construction management experience listed in the district’s job description for facilities chief.

Matthew Bradford, 45, was hired in May 2018 as the district’s director of computer operations. He would receive a 22 percent pay increase — from $119,000 to $145,000 — to fill in as the chief information officer, overseeing technology. Bradford has a bachelor’s degree from Jackson State University in Mississippi, according to his resume, but the job description calls for at least a master’s degree

and preferably a doctorate.

■ Craig Kowalski, 47, a major with the district’s Special Investigative Unit police force, has been recommended to become chief of the department, and his salary would increase from $97,000 to $116,000, or 19.5 percent. Kowalski, who has worked in the district for 18 years and was a school resource officer in Parkland before that, meets the job qualifications. He has filled in as chief twice before, from 2009 to 2010 and again in 2016.

None of the three employees could be reached Monday, despite attempts by phone.

“Task assignments do not require a board-approved job description,” district spokeswoman Nadine Drew said in a statement. “Employees task assigned may or not meet all the minimum requirements outlined in the job description.”

The district’s handbook says employees in these jobs“may be eligible for additional compensation in the form of a supplement for the duration of the assignment,” but doesn’t say how much.

Drew said the district’s compensation department determines pay changes, considering the labor market and other factors. “Under no circumstances shall salary placement be less than the minimum or above the maximum of the salary range for the job,” she said.

The minimum salary for May’s and Bradford’s recommended position is $119,000; the minimum for Kowalski’s is $84,651.

It’s been unusual in the past for employees to get such large pay increases when they fill in a job temporarily. For years, district policy limited any pay increase, whether for a temporary assignment or a promotion, to 10 percent. But that led to complaints that outside job candidates could earn much more than those who worked in the district. So in 2017, the district dropped the cap and allowed existing employees to have their salaries reviewed to see if they were being paid competitively. That’s led to at least 19 district administrators getting pay raises of between 12 percent and 21 percent in the past two years.

There was little discussion about how that change in pay policy affected administrators who were filling in temporarily. Unlike permanent positions, “task assigned” jobs are only given to people already in the district.

“It’s kind of surprising because historically when an assistant principal is put on a task assignment on a temporary basis to fill in as principal of a school because something happened to the principal, their salary is rarely if ever adjusted,” said Lisa Maxwell, executive director of the Broward Principals and Assistants Association. ”They’re asked to do more for the same.”

She said Kowalski probably has been underpaid for years and got little increase in pay when he temporarily filled in as chief, but “the others, I just don’t get.”

The School Board approved a 20 percent pay hike Sept. 18 for Kay Blake, transportation operations manager, to fill in as executive director of student transportation. Her salary is now $112,040. At the same meeting, Frank Girardi, director of construction, was temporarily assigned to be executive director of capital programs. His pay increased 9.5 percent, from $127,000 to $139,000.

The school district has experienced increased turnover in high-level positions recently. The district’s old facilities chief, Leo Bobadilla, resigned last month following complaints of delays and cost overruns in the district’s $800 million bond program to repair decaying schools. He now works as vice provost for facilities for Miami Dade College.

Tony Hunter, the previous chief information officer, resigned the same day as Bobadilla. He said in his resignation letter he had taken another job.

Robert Hutchinson announced in September he would be resigning as police chief on Jan. 19 but didn’t specify the reasons. The Special Investigative Unit has gone through four permanent chiefs, as well as several fill-ins, in the past decade.

Last week, Human Resources Chief Craig Nichols submitted a two-sentence resignation letter that said his last day would be Feb. 4. He also didn’t state a reason.