Peoria Public Schools superintendent gets contract extension and a raise

PEORIA – When the contract for Peoria Public Schools Superintendent Sharon Desmoulin-Kherat was renewed for four more years at a board meeting this month, it included a raise.

Desmoulin-Kherat’s base salary is $268,636.43, according to board attorney Stanley Einsenhammer. The superintendent will receive a 5.8% raise in the first year and just under 4% in each of the last three years.

Renewal of Desmoulin-Kherat’s contract was passed without discussion at the Nov. 14 board meeting, though two board members, Anni Reinking and Chase Klaus, voted against it.

According to the PPS website, Desmoulin-Kherat's "base salary" for the 2021-22 school year was $289,840.66. Since the salary report on the district website is required to include contributions from the Teachers Retirement System pension program and the Teacher Health Insurance Security fund, the base salary reported there is higher, said Haleemah Na'Allah, the PPS director of public relations.

The figure reported by Einsenhammer does not include the pension and health insurance benefits.

From the archives:Sharon Desmoulin-Kherat named District 150's permanent superintendent

Desmoulin-Kherat’s salary is higher than the salaries of other superintendents in smaller school districts in the Peoria area. In 2020, Morton Schools Superintendent Jeff Hill earned a base salary of $185,207, while Scott Dearman, superintendent for Dunlap Schools, earned a base salary of $190,550, according to the Illinois Public Salaries Database.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Peoria Public Schools superintendent to receive a raise next year