Contract shows salary and other compensation for new Phenix City Schools superintendent

Mark Rice
·2 min read

The new superintendent of Phenix City Schools will be paid an annual salary of $185,000, tied with Opelika City Schools for 33rd-highest superintendent salary among Alabama’s 139 school districts, according to al.com’s January 2023 list.

Janet Sherrod, executive director of learning support for Tuscaloosa City Schools, will receive the following additional compensation as PCS superintendent (as well as the benefits given to all full-time certificated employees) when her three-year contract with the Phenix City Board of Education starts June 1:

  • Vehicle and travel allowance. The board will provide Sherrod an unspecified type of vehicle for official business. The board will pay for the vehicle’s associated costs, such as maintenance, gas and insurance. Sherrod will be reimbursed at the unspecified PCS-employee rate if the superintendent uses her personal vehicle for official business beyond a 40-mile radius from PCS headquarters.

  • Housing allowance. For one year, the board will provide Sherrod a $14,000 stipend ($1,200 per month) as a housing allowance.

  • Moving expenses. The board will reimburse Sherrod a maximum of $7,500 to move to Phenix City.

  • Technology. The board will provide Sherrod with a cellphone (unlimited voice and data plan), notebook computer, tablet computer and desktop computer for official and personal use. She may select the equipment in consultation with the PCS technology department.

Janet Sherrod’s salary compared to previous superintendent

In addition to Sherrod’s contract, the Ledger-Enquirer also requested from the PCBOE a copy of the last contract it had with the previous superintendent, Randy Wilkes, who ended his eight-year tenure leading PCS when he resigned last June to become the first superintendent of a new school district in Orange Beach.

The PCBOE didn’t provide the L-E a copy of that contract, but Wilkes’ salary as of December 2021 was $211,323, according to the Alabama State Department of Education’s list of superintendent salaries for fiscal year 2022.

The December 2022 list shows Wilkes’ salary in Orange Beach at $260,000 — eighth-highest in the state, behind Mobile County ($287,816), Baldwin County ($275,251), Tuscaloosa City ($272,755), Birmingham City ($269,100), Montgomery County ($265,200), Alabaster City ($265,064) and Lee County ($262,744).

Wilkes was hired in Phenix City from Crenshaw County in 2014 for a $147,664 salary, which was raised to $165,000 in 2016 and $175,890 in 2019. He was named the state’s superintendent of the year in 2018.