South DaCola

Is the Sioux Falls School District really that tight on money? Several administrators get massive raises

l3wis August 4, 2019 21Comments

So I started reading this Argus story about across the board raises, this is what the district said;

The wage gap between teachers and administrators in the Sioux Falls School District is widening.

School board candidates in May criticized the district for its spending on administrative salaries, but later in the month the board approved a three-year contract stating that when Sioux Falls teachers get raises, so do their bosses.

This school year, all employees will see a 2.75% salary increase, but when administrators make an average of $76,000 more annually than teachers, that raise goes further for them.

But when you look at the salary increases from last year (they are approved by the school board in July) in the graphic below I created from the district’s salary data, you will see another story. Many administrators are getting massive wage increases right after they approved a $300 million dollar school bond. Here are the entire PDF docs of salaries; 2018-19, 2019-2020

“The city of Sioux Falls, the county, Sanford Health, Avera Health, it’s just kind of the way it works,” said former board member and current administrator Doug Morrison said of the district’s salary schedule. “So everyone can aspire to have a pathway to what they want to be in life.”

The problem(s) with Morrison’s statement (there are several) is that the SFSD is NOT a private corporation or private non-profit, it is a taxpayer funded entity, and our taxes are going through the f’ing roof!

Mickelson would not explain the issue further, but suggested administrator pay be set year-to-year based on performance and the financial condition of the school district instead.

However, district officials say the blanket percentage increase and not seeing the contract’s details beforehand is common practice, something that’s been ongoing for about 20 years. 

Whoa! Cynthia and I agree on something. At least Todd Vik (the business manager) admits to the secrecy and backroom deals. Someone told me recently that they overheard Alberty (who just left the board) say in reference to the Sioux Falls City Council’s very public airing of grievances that the school board makes decisions behind closed doors before the public meeting so the public can’t see the sausage being made, so to speak. Well isn’t that nice?!

Vik acknowledged the percentage allocated for increases to teacher salaries has consistently also been tied to administrative salary increases, except for four occasions. 

District officials also said the average increase isn’t as large as it seems on paper, and includes those moving up the steps of a set salary schedule.

“A wage gap is accurate, but disparity, if I were to look up the definition, that would say to me our teacher salaries are growing by a less percentage than our administrators,” Alberty said about his May vote Wednesday. “But it’s tied to the teachers increases get and that’s not a disparity in my mind at all.”

Really? The data below tells a different tale Mr. Vik and Mr. Alberty. Administrators are getting rich while the taxpayers are getting screwed.

In the graphic, the RED DOTS denote who got a raise over 2.75%. In fact out of 68 employees listed, 42 got more than that. I also listed the percentages they received. You will also notice that job titles are NOT listed, it is that way in the data the SFSD has listed.