Are Oswego 308 Administrators Underpaid?

How much should Oswego 308 administrators be getting paid?

It was a question explored Monday night in a presentation to the Oswego 308 Board of Education of a study on administrative salaries.

Craig A. Schilling, Ed.D of SBM Pros, LLC in Northbrook prepared and presented the study, which compared Oswego 308 administration salaries to six other school districts in the area with similar school sizes with 2012/13 data.

His study showed that amongst all of the positions he profiled – principals, assistant principals, deans, directors, public relations and other higher-paid administrative salaries, Oswego 308 staff is paying behind the mean average of all seven school districts.

The largest gaps were shown to be for the principal at the middle school level (Oswego average: $104,000; Average across districts: $122,299) and principals at the elementary level (Oswego average: $86,668; Average across districts: $107,668).

In every position Oswego 308 salaries were behind the average mean salary of the other districts.

“You want to be somewhere in the middle,” advised Schilling. “Where 50 percent of the districts make more, and 50 percent make less.”

He said that Oswego doesn’t have to change salaries though. “If you’re in a situation where you’re getting the highest quality people you want, then bless your district.”

However, Schilling said that the lower salaries might mean the district is only getting those high-level people for two or three years. “You want to keep your administrators long enough so you can implement strategies. If every two or three years your teachers are getting a new person that gets to be a little tough, and it will eventually reflect on students.”

Schilling’s conclusion of the study was that based on Oswego 308 salaries, quality staff will look elsewhere.

He suggested three options, one of which to ignore the study, which would likely result in higher turnover. Two, to make a modest adjustment although salaries would always be at or below the median base. Or three, to make the median salary from the study the new average and then establish a salary range.

“Aren’t we always going to be chasing salaries?” asked board member Brent Lightfoot following the presentation.

The answer? Yes.

“It’s been compared with a staircase,” said Schilling. “It just keeps going. You don’t have to be the highest point, but you have to be more competitive. I’m sure you’re hiring good people. The question is, are you able to retain them?”

Superintendent Matthew Wendt said the board will look at administrator salaries come late spring, and suggested just going over the study to make sure everyone is on the same page.

Read the full study on administrative salaries here.