The district’s heavy hitters
Gary Moskowitz
BURBANK -- There are 21 top ranking school officials and principals in
the Burbank Unified School District who are worth more than $100,000,
based on total compensation figures in the district’s 2001-02 proposed
budget.
Total compensation figures for the more than 2,000 full-time district
employees include salary, retirement, Social Security, Medicare, state
unemployment insurance, workers’ compensation insurance, health and
welfare benefits.
Total compensation of the top ranking school official, Supt. David
Aponik, has gone up about 42% since 1996. Aponik, whose total
compensation is $184,696 this year, made about $130,000 in 1996.
In addition to salaries, benefit packages contribute significantly to
the total compensation of school district employees. Although a
principal’s annual salary in the district averages about $90,000, benefit
packages raise their total compensation to more than $100,000.
“The benefits totals are not money they see. That is cost, not all
salary,” said Richard Canady, interim chief business officer.
In addition, coaching assignments, department chair assignments,
after-school and summer school positions are factors that can contribute
to additional money to an educator’s annual income.
Canady said school district salaries come from four sources of
revenue: revenue limit, state funding, federal funding and local funding.
Revenue-limit funding for the Burbank school district is determined by
the state. The amount of revenue gained from local property taxes and
state revenue varies between districts statewide, Canady said.
State revenue generated is determined on an as-needs basis from
special education, school improvement programs, home-to-school
transportation and textbook money, among others, Canady said.
Federal revenue is all restricted money that is generated from
vocational education, emergency immigrant funds and migrant education.
Local funding is the interest generated from district funds held in
the county treasury and other revenues from things like the rental of
school facilities, Canady said.