Palm Beach County Schools Superintendent Wayne Gent
In case you missed it, Palm Beach County Schools Superintendent Wayne Gent has announced he’s stepping down at the end of the school year. But why?
Gent hasn’t said much, except that he’s ready to pursue “other opportunities” in public education. It’s no secret that he had strained relations with some school board members. But could salary have been a factor?
Gent earns a base salary of $225,000 a year. That’s a tidy sum by nearly any measure. But it’s not by the measure of other superintendents of large urban school districts. Compared to his colleagues in similar-sized districts, Gent appears to be underpaid.
According to a recent survey by the Council of the Great City Schools, the average salary for superintendents of districts similar in size to Palm Beach (which has 183,000 students) is $276,000 a year.
And the survey, which included data from 53 large districts around the country, found that even when you factor in the typically lower salaries of superintendents in smaller school districts, who tend to make less, Gent’s salary was below average for someone with more than a year on the job.
Of course, if Gent had decided to try to renew his contract, he could have argued for a raise after more than three years on the job. When former Superintendent Art Johnson stepped down in 2011, after a decade in the position, his base salary had risen to $250,000.
To be clear, Gent has given no indication that he was dissatisfied with his salary.
But as school board members prepare to search for his replacement, settling on a salary figure will be one of their most important decisions. Setting a salary too low could limit the pool of top-tier candidates.
When the board conducted a national search in 2011 before settling on Gent, they advertised the potential salary as being between $225,000 and $285,000.
