Santa Rosa school board delays decision on proposed pay hike for superintendent, district administrators

A controversial decision on whether to increase the Santa Rosa schools superintendent’s salary by nearly 29% has been postponed to next month, after school is dismissed for the summer.

The proposal, which prompted backlash from school employees after months of tense negotiations over teacher pay, was expected to come before the school board earlier this month. However, trustees decided to push off a vote on the proposal to increase Superintendent Diann Kitamura’s pay - as well as the salaries of four assistant superintendents - until June 26 to gather more information and feedback.

“I postponed action on these contracts to allow for further consideration of this feedback, and to gather additional relevant data on administrator salaries,” board President Jenni Klose wrote last week in a letter to Santa Rosa City Schools employees.

Kitamura hasn’t received a raise since she started in the position three years ago. She makes an annual salary of $200,000, and district officials last month proposed increasing it to $257,094.

The district faced public criticism from residents and school employees after the proposed salary increases were placed on the April 24 board meeting agenda, along with the approval of the teachers’ contract. The contract took five months to negotiate and gives teachers a 3% raise beginning this July, follow by a 4% increase next year.

The Santa Rosa Teachers Association has framed the proposed administrator pay hikes as an issue of income inequality in the district. Flyers posted on the union’s website this month read: “If 3% is fair for teachers, it is fair for the boss!”

Omar Medina, a trustee with a background in labor unions, said feedback from the community has mostly been in opposition to the proposed 29% increase for Kitamura.

“After it was posted publicly, I think some people were upset by the high amount. The majority of feedback that I’ve seen is ‘It’s not fair,’” Medina said. “There were, however, some people who supported it and spoke in favor of the hard work she’s done.”

Kitamura led the school district through the October 2017 wildfires and its devastating impacts.

Her salary is right at the state average, but in a previous interview she said superintendents at nearby districts of similar sizes make more. She previously said a pay increase was “about making this right for the future of the district.”

Brigette Mansell, former Healdsburg mayor and a Santa Rosa City Schools teacher for 36 years, drew from her experience with city labor negotiations when she spoke at a May 8 board meeting in opposition of the proposed pay increase.

“It’s not OK, just from the public viewpoint, for us to continue to allow high-paid employees to make a higher percentage in their increases,” Mansell said.

Klose in a text message said it’s possible the proposals will be revised before the June 26 meeting, but she declined to comment further, citing confidentiality rules on personnel issues.

Klose told the radio station KBBF Thursday that Kitamura did ask for a raise, but not the amount proposed.

If the issue isn’t postponed further, the contract proposals will be posted on the district’s website the evening of June 21 for the public to view.

“I believe that the feedback does have an impact in terms of our decisions,” Medina said. “It’s completely understandable, everybody’s frustration.”

You can reach Staff Writer Susan Minichiello at 707-521-5216 or susan.minichiello@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @susanmini.