St. John stays through 2010

Jay St. John will be superintendent of Sahuarita schools through June 2010 and then will step down after 11 years as the head of the district.

The school board on Feb. 13 voted to extend St. John’s tenure as superintendent from April 1, 2008, until June 30, 2010, and he noted at the meeting that this would be his last contract.

The salary is for $103,000 a year, and he was hired directly as an employee, in contrast to his current one-year arrangement as a contractor through Educational Services Inc. of Cottonwood.

St. John began work at the district in 1994 as director of instruction, later became business manager and was hired as superintendent in 1999. He was a district employee up until March 31, 2007, meaning, among other things, the district was paying into the state retirement fund on his behalf at the rate of just over 9 percent of his salary, or about $9,300 a year.

St. John retired from the district April 1, 2007, but immediately was hired back by SUSD through ESI as a contractor at 80 percent of his previous salary. That arrangement allowed him to collect his state retirement while at the same time saving the district from having to make any further contributions to the state retirement fund on his behalf. This should save the district about $28,000 in retirement payments from 2007 to 2010 and also saved about $20,000 in salary for the current year.

In recent years, about a dozen employees have been hired in this manner, working at 80 percent of their previous salary for one year, then being rehired as district employees in most cases. The arrangement allows them to collect state retirement while saving the district on retirement and one year’s discounted salary, St. John said.

Four other administrators were given pay raises at the Feb. 13 board meeting. The raises ranged between $1,200 and $3,800 and went to: Anza Trail School Principal Kathy Shiba; high school Assistant Principal Clint Carlton; Sopori School Principal Desi Raulston and primary school Principal Tina Steward. Carlton, Raulston and Steward had not previously been given proper credit for their past administrative experience and Shiba was not being compensated appropriately for running the second largest building in the district, St. John said.

St. John said district administrators in general need additional increases, as many administrators’ salaries are far below those in other Southern Arizona school districts.

“Our high school assistant principals are 23.3 percent below the average ... principals at the elementary school level are 34 percent below” the average in other area districts. “I’ll be recommending things that need to be done” to improve salaries, St. John said.

St. John also noted that the district needs to hire more administrators because current ones are working long hours and coping with an increasing amount of complex paperwork imposed by state and federal regulators, not to mention a growing enrollment.

St. John said the first $9 million in bond money authorized by voters in November will be in the district by the end of the month, as bonds are being sold. That money will fund a wide variety of improvements, including work on a new high school.

pfranchine@sahuaritasun.com | 547-9738