Santa Rosa school district revise proposed superintendent pay hike after initial plan sparks public outcry

The Santa Rosa school district has revised its proposed salary increases for its top administrators, lowering the amount following public backlash over the past two months.

The district in April proposed to raise Superintendent Diann Kitamura’s annual salary by nearly 29% from $200,000 to $257,094. The new proposal calls for increasing her salary about 18% over two years - first to $218,000 on July 1 and then up to $235,000 a year later.

“Since the issue originally came up, the board has asked for, received and analyzed additional relevant information, and has also had the opportunity to engage in negotiations with the administration,” said Jenni Klose, the Santa Rosa City Schools board president.

The initial pay increase proposal was announced after months of tense teacher pay negotiations. Critics at the time called for a raise that would be on par with what teachers received: a 7% salary increase over two years.

Will Lyon, president of the Santa Rosa Teachers Association, said the revised proposal is still too high.

“If 7% is good enough for the teachers, it should be good enough for the boss,” Lyon said.

The district last month postponed a vote on the initial proposed pay raise to gather more information and feedback. The board has received mostly negative feedback, Klose said.

“We do always listen to the feedback,” she said. “It was admittedly a large increase, and there was a large level of sticker shock.”

She said there will be a full report during this Wednesday’s board meeting on how data was gathered to determine the revised pay raise. The proposal also includes salary increases for four other district administrators.

Kitamura, whose current salary is right at the state average, hasn’t had a raise since she started as superintendent in February 2016. In her tenure, she led the district through the October 2017 wildfires, which heavily impacted Santa Rosa schools, and oversaw the change from at-large school trustee elections to district elections.

The district attached to Wednesday’s board agenda a chart listing the salaries of two dozen superintendents at school districts of comparable size and locations. The chart also includes superintendents’ race.

Of the schools districts listed, including Alameda, Berkeley, Napa Valley and South San Francisco, the average superintendent of color makes $225,199, while the average white superintendent makes $263,721, according to Santa Rosa City Schools.

In addition, the average male superintendent on the list makes $260,579 and the average female superintendent makes $221,294.

“There are significant pay gaps based on gender and race in our country,” Klose said.

Lyon declined to comment on race and gender gaps, and framed the issue around income inequality.

“There are 1,000 school districts in the state, they pick those 22,” Lyon said. “I’m not personally convinced that that’s a fair way to do it.”

On Wednesday, trustees also will consider increasing the salaries for Stacy Spector, Steve Mizera, Anna Guzman and Rick Edson. All are assistant superintendents and make $155,140 annually.

The district initially proposed in April bumping their annual pay to: $160,569 for Spector; $166,189 for Mizera; $172,006 for Guzman; and $189,000 for Edson, whose role would change to deputy superintendent. Under the revised proposal, Spector’s annual pay would increase to $159,794, while Mizera and Guzman would earn $166,186 and $169,510, respectively. Edson would earn $175,000.

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