Letter to the Editor: Resident Wants to See School Board Vote No on Superintendent Raise

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Letter to the Editor:

The sole reason for this is pretty simple, he’s “underpaid” when compared to superintendents of similarly sized school districts. I would argue that just because someone is paid more doesn’t mean that Dr. Hill deserves a new deal a year early with a retroactive pay increase. 
 
What has he done? How are BUSD schools and students better off now than they were before? Is employee retention higher? Is enrollment up? Are relationships between the district and school sites on positive footing? What is he doing to lobby state legislators for more funding? Has he really done that good of a job to earn more money than Governor Newsom?  To be clear, I’m not against merit increases with meaningful steps towards district wide improvements being made.
 
If the schools are better now than they were before under his leadership – stand up and explain to the board and public why you should receive this raise. The general public may not be aware of what Dr. Hill has done.  Raises should be earned and not given just because someone else in a similar size district makes more than you do right now.
 
I would strongly encourage the Board of Education to vote no on this package in its current form and go back to the drawing board. Let his current deal run as is and renegotiate next summer, without a retroactive component.  What’s the rush?  
 
Awarding such a lucrative contract when so many are out of work is tone deaf and remarkably unaware of the economic environment in our treasured schools.
 
Patrick Peters
Burbank