A special meeting Feb. 22 to gather public input on the proposed new Hamilton Southeastern Schools superintendent’s contract took about 10 minutes, and the four people who spoke voiced no opposition to the terms of employment.
The HSE Board of Trustees has not yet named the person chosen to lead the school district. According to a summary of the proposed three-year contract, the new superintendent will receive a starting base salary of $215,270. The board has the option of increasing that salary by up to $20,000 annually.
The contract also calls for the district to provide retirement benefits, including a contribution from the district of about $2,500 per pay period. The district also would pay $1,000 a month for an auto allowance and $100 a month for a technology allowance.
By comparison, in July 2021, Carmel Clay Schools Superintendent Michael Beresford’s new five-year contract had a base pay of $189,000 at that time, with an annual 4.5-percent salary increase and other benefits. That annual increase would bring his base pay to approximately $215,500 for the 2024-25 school year.
Before opening the Feb. 22 public hearing, Board President Juanita Albright reminded those planning to speak that the hearing was specifically about the terms of the contract, and comments should focus solely on that topic. She had to interrupt three of the four speakers to remind them of that limitation, including the first speaker, Shannon Fields.
Fields began her comments with complaints about the district’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, “in which many students were shut out of full-time in-class instruction for the better part of 18 months” and what she said is an increase in political activism in the classroom.
“As the board selects a new superintendent, I hope you found a candidate who shares the commitments upon which the majority of this board ran and was elected,” Fields said, adding that the district’s limited funding should focus on how to best educate children.
She did not speak to the terms of the contract.
Another speaker spoke in favor of diversity and inclusion efforts, and a third expressed hope that the community would come together and support the new superintendent in their new leadership role at HSE.
Stephanie Hunt said she is “cautiously optimistic” about the next three years. Hunt said she trusts HSE Chief Financial Officer Katy Dowling’s assessment that the district can afford the proposed contract.
“As (former board president Dawn) Lang said in the first meeting of the year, we need to continue moving forward and collaborating together around common goals so we can do great things,” Hunt said. “I am sincerely hopeful most of this board fully believes those words and will continue operating by them in the coming years.”
The board is scheduled to vote on the proposed superintendent’s contract during a special meeting set for 6 p.m. Feb. 28 at HSE’s central office, 13485 Cumberland Rd.
