PSD school board gives superintendent a raise following 'outstanding' first year on job
The Poudre School District Board of Education gave Superintendent Brian Kingsley his first formal review last week, complete with a raise in salary, a contract extension and high marks in nearly every evaluation category.
Kingsley, who started the job nearly a year ago to the day, received a glowing evaluation from the seven-member school board that approved his hiring in spring 2021.
“I think the board as a whole agrees, as documented in our feedback that we just gave you, that you're doing a terrific — an outstanding — job, frankly. And we are looking forward to seeing more results over the next years, plural,” Board President Rob Petterson said when voting to approve the contract and evaluation.
Kingsley was given a 6% raise — bumping his annual salary from $230,000 to $243,800 — along with five additional days of vacation time, an increase in contributions to his tax-sheltered annuity plan and an increased travel stipend.
The board voted 6-1 to approve the contract changes and evaluation, with board member DJ Anderson being the only dissenting vote.
Anderson said that while he has been “very impressed” with Kingsley’s contributions to the district, he thinks the compensation is too high.
He told the Coloradoan that the 6% raise — combined with the increase in contributions to Kingsley’s annuity — equated to about a 9% raise and he felt that was too much after the first year of work.
“I'm looking at the whole package and I just think that when we're trying to fight for making sure that we have enough money to pay our teachers and our staff enough … (there are) just things that we could get done with ($20,000) to $30,000,” Anderson said. “There’s a lot that we can do.”
Following Anderson’s comment at the meeting, Petterson, Kristen Draper, Carolyn Reed and Jessica Zamora all said they felt Kingsley’s raise was fair, with Petterson adding that it was reasonable in the context of the “market for superintendent compensation packages.”
Nearby in Weld RE-4, a new superintendent this month received a starting compensation of $210,000 and, in Thompson School District last year, the superintendent made a base salary of $204,825.05 according to previous reporting by the Loveland Reporter Herald.
Learn more about PSD's budget: Here’s where the money is going for Fort Collins schools
What was the feedback?
Overall, the board appeared extremely happy with Kingsley’s performance.
They evaluated him using five questions:
Is the superintendent demonstrating the right leadership and vision for the moment in which the district finds itself? In the eyes of the board? In the eyes of the staff? In the eyes of the community?
Is the superintendent leading the district to make regular progress toward the stated learning goals of the district?
Is the superintendent running the operational and financial sides of the district in the best short- and long-term interests of the students?
Is the superintendent partnering with the community and officials in the best interests of the students?
Is the superintendent working well with the board?
Kingsley received predominantly 3's and 4's on the rating scale, which goes up to 4.
The board said he is “consistently a good and respectful communicator,” has built strong community relationships throughout his first year, shows “financial initiative” and looks for creative funding solutions, and has an “inspirational, dynamic and effective leadership” style.
His lowest category, with an average rating of 2.79 out of four, was “Is the superintendent leading the district to make regular progress toward the stated learning goals of the district?”
In comments on that section, the board wrote that they appreciate the “ideas and conceptual plans being made” and would like “to see concrete plans to turn ideas into reality” with projected milestones and ways to hold Kingsley accountable to progress.
As part of the evaluation, Kingsley also named his priorities for the district in the coming year. His past priorities included helping students and staff recover from and work through COVID-19 impacts, engage the community and get the district fully staffed.
Looking forward, he hopes to move forward on the district’s strategic plan, begin literacy changes, have concrete results from working with community partners, have “meaningful results” in at least one academic area — like graduation rates — continue focusing on the mental health of his cabinet and himself, and continue professional growth.
For subscribers: Poudre School District increases pay, sick leave as teachers leave at alarming rates
Molly Bohannon covers education for the Coloradoan. Follow her on Twitter @molboha or contact her at mbohannon@coloradoan.com. Support her work and that of other Coloradoan journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.
This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: PSD superintendent Brian Kingsley gets 6% raise, glowing reviews
