New contract guarantees minimum $100K salaries for Lansing School District principals
LANSING − All Lansing School District principals will make at least $100,000 under a new contract that aims to make administrator pay more comparable to surrounding districts.
After seeing overwhelming support from members of the Lansing Association of School Administrators, the Lansing School District Board of Education approved a new five-year contract for union members that will assure every principal of every school in the district receives an annual base salary of at least $100,000.
Under the new contract, the minimum pay for the district’s elementary school principals will increase about $12,197, from about $87,803 to $100,000; minimum salaries for principals of middle years schools with 400 or more students will increase about $10,684, from $93,760 to $104,444; and high school principals will see minimum salaries rise from about $100,644 to $108,100, an increase of about $7,456.
“What it has gotten us is very comparable salaries to surrounding districts,” said Lewton School Principal Richard Gutierrez, who was involved in contract negotiations. “It puts a lot of structures in place that surrounding districts have that we’ve never had.”
Principals will also be eligible for new bonus incentives, according to information provided by Kristina Tokar, the school district’s chief operating officer.
Principals of high schools that achieve graduation rates of 80% will earn $2,000 annual bonuses. They will earn $3,000 for graduation rates of 85% or better. High school assistant principals will earn bonuses of $1,000 and $1,500 for graduation rates of 80% and 85% or better, respectively.
High attendance rates will earn all principals and assistant principals additional bonuses. Attendance rates of 90% earns principals a $1,500 bonus, with 92% attendance rates or higher bringing $2,500 bonuses.
Assistant principals will also be awarded for high attendance rates at their schools, including $750 bonuses for attendance rates of 90% and $1,250 for attendance rates of 92% or higher.
Principals will also get paid more depending on their time spent with the district.
The base pay increases make principal pay more comparable to surrounding districts, according to both Gutierrez and Superintendent Benjamin Shuldiner.
Publicly posted budget and finance documents show the highest-paid principal at Holt Public Schools took home a $115,305 salary for the 2020-21 school year.
East Lansing Public Schools’ highest-paid principal in the 2021-22 school year recorded a $133,692 salary. The highest-paid principal at Grand Ledge Public Schools last year had a $121,578 salary. And at Waverly Community Schools, $120,913 was the largest salary for a principal last year.
“This is not only a real and wonderful salary, but it’s symbolic that our school administrators deserve to be remunerated for their incredible service to our students and our community,” Shuldiner said.
Additionally, Gutierrez said the new contract includes annual steps that will give principals regular pay increases throughout the life of the contract.
The contract makes up for a lack of adequate pay increases for more than a decade, he said. And it gives the district a step forward looking into the future.
“With the state of education right now, it’s important that we retain good talent,” Gutierrez said, speaking from his nearly three decades with the school district. “A principal sets the tone for the school. The climate and culture is a direct reflection of the school leader.”
It’s once a school has that healthy culture that real academic gains can be made, he said.
“A school leader’s role is vital in the school’s performance,” Gutierrez said.
Contact Mark Johnson at 517-377-1026 or majohnson2@lsj.com.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: New contract assures Lansing school principals make at least $100K
