Board Votes Not to Cut Pay for County Schools’ Superintendent

Rejecting a call to cut the pay of the county schools’ chief, the Ventura County Board of Education voted 4 to 1 Wednesday to maintain the county superintendent’s salary at $112,466.

Board member Wendy Larner of Ojai had proposed that the county school board lop more than $14,000 off the salary of Supt. Charles Weis, reducing his pay to $98,000.

Weis, who was appointed last year to fill the unexpired term of retired Supt. James F. Cowan, is up for election June 7.

In her proposal to the board, Larner argued that a $98,000 salary would be high enough to attract qualified educators to run for the superintendent position, which is responsible for signing off on the budgets of all 21 school districts in Ventura County in addition to providing support services to individual schools and teachers.

“With the economic times we have right now, we could attract a good candidate,” Larner said before the meeting.

But trustees John McGarry and Doylenne G. Johnson said they thought a newly elected superintendent deserves the same salary that Cowan received.

After a half-hour discussion, board members Juanita Sanchez-Valdez and Albert Rosen consented to keeping the pay at the same level, leaving Larner as the lone vote to cut the superintendent’s pay.

McGarry pointed out before Wednesday’s meeting that Weis does the work of both the county superintendent and the assistant county superintendent, because the board left the assistant superintendent’s position vacant after Weis was promoted last July.

“Dr. Weis since then has taken over the responsibility for both jobs,” McGarry said. “I hardly think that that’s suitable justification for reducing his pay.”

Weis received a $32,000 raise when he was appointed to the superintendent’s job, as his salary in the role of assistant superintendent was $80,000.

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Larner was the only one of the five county school board members to vote against Weis’ appointment last year.

She said, however, that her proposal to lower the pay for the superintendent’s position was no reflection on Weis’ performance. “He’s been very active and diligent and he’s been attempting to get a handle on all the schools in the county.”

Larner argued that it was unfair for Weis’ beginning salary as superintendent to be the same as the ending salary for Cowan, who served in the position 24 years.

The salary for the superintendent’s position has not changed since 1991-1992, when the board raised Cowan’s pay from $110,260.

Trustees Sanchez-Valdez and Rosen also voiced concerns at the meeting that Weis could lose the election to someone who is less qualified and experienced.

In view of this possibility, Rosen suggested establishing a salary range for the position that would tie the pay level to the amount of experience of the officeholder.

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But other officials pointed out that salaries for elective offices such as the county superintendent of schools are set without regard to the experience level of the people in those jobs.

“It’s an elected position,” McGarry said. “The position pays a certain amount of money regardless of who gets that position.”

Larner also suggested that the board lower the superintendent’s salary to reflect both the stagnation in wages in the private sector and the state budget crisis that has led to reductions in school funding.

But Weis said he believes the position is underpaid contrasted with jobs with similar responsibilities in private companies.

“We provide a service that directly affects the entire economy of Ventura County,” Weis said, referring to the importance of public schools to the local economy. “So how important is that job?”