Following some minor debate, the North Kitsap School District (NKSD) approved the contract for Superintendent Dr. Laurynn Evans at its June 13 meeting.
Dr. Evans received a positive evaluation from the NKSD Board for the 2018–19 contract year. Noting specifically that she has made significant progress on key goals and initiatives for the district.
In the two contract years that Dr. Evans has been superintendent at NKSD, it was found that her compensation was below the regional median range for similarly-sized school districts, while all other employees were at or above median regional salary.
According to salary.com the salary for a school superintendent in Washington state ranges from $139,234 to $205,682 per year, with the median salary range of $170,450. This new contract has Dr. Evans earning $190,000, a $6,000 increase from her previous salary of $185
This increase, is less of an actual increase and more of a re-appropriation of funds within the employee contract.
In previous contracts, a $6,000 stipend is set aside as a separate line item. This stipend allows for the employee to offset costs towards professional development, such as certified training courses.
This stipend is now included in an employee’s base salary rather than a separate line item. Thus raising Dr. Evans base salary from $159,800 to 165,800. Which according to the NKSD Board still has Dr. Evans falling below the salary range for superintendents in districts of similar size to North Kitsap.
Despite being a re-appropriation of funds, this increase comes at a time when the NKSD is facing a $3.5 million funding deficit and looking into making reductions in staff as well as closing the districts copy center.
Board members Beth Worthington and Jim Almond requested to see information on comparable salaries before voting on whether or not to approve the contract. Worthington even motioned to postpone the conversation of the contract to the board’s June 27 meeting, but the motion did not move forward.
Ultimately Dr. Evans’ contract was approved in a 3-1-1 vote.
