Wow. Some pretty pricey staff are employed by our school district. In fact, many of those holding top posts in DeKalb county schools earn more than most governors across the states. This – in spite of the major cuts to teacher and other school staff pay and benefits.
Have a look at the 100 people in DeKalb schools who made over $100,000 in FY2013 (2012-13 school year):
| Name | Title | Salary |
| ATKINSON,CHERYL L H | SUPERINTENDENT | $229,929.52 |
| TYSON,RAMONA H | DEPUTY/ASSOC/ASSISTANT SUPT | $180,981.08 |
| BRANTLEY,GARY L | DEPUTY/ASSOC/ASSISTANT SUPT | $160,647.05 |
| HOWE,KATHLEEN S | DEPUTY/ASSOC/ASSISTANT SUPT | $160,647.05 |
| MARCH,KENDRA D | DEPUTY/ASSOC/ASSISTANT SUPT | $160,647.05 |
| RAMSEY,RONALD B | DEPUTY/ASSOC/ASSISTANT SUPT | $160,647.05 |
| WARD-SMITH,TEKSHIA M | PERSONNEL/HUMAN RESOURCES DIR | $160,647.05 |
| WILKINS,STEPHEN M | CONSTRUCTION MANAGER | $160,647.05 |
| WILSON,JAMIE L | PRINCIPAL | $158,547.05 |
| PERRONE,MICHAEL J | FINANCE/BUSINESS SERVICE MGR | $140,653.39 |
| THURMOND,MICHAEL | SUPERINTENDENT | $121,551.73 |
| THOMPSON,ALICE A | DEPUTY/ASSOC/ASSISTANT SUPT | $121,459.58 |
| EVERETT,SHERRY A | FEDERAL PROGRAMS DIRECTOR | $121,243.98 |
| ADAMSON,DARIUS S | DEPUTY/ASSOC/ASSISTANT SUPT | $118,904.59 |
| BRADSHAW,KENNETH | DEPUTY/ASSOC/ASSISTANT SUPT | $118,904.59 |
| PRINGLE,ANGELA D | DEPUTY/ASSOC/ASSISTANT SUPT | $118,904.59 |
| ZEIGLER,RACHEL R | DEPUTY/ASSOC/ASSISTANT SUPT | $118,904.59 |
| REED,JOSEPH P | PRINCIPAL | $118,651.10 |
| MCCRARY,PHILLIP C | ATHLETICS PERSONNEL | $118,601.00 |
| BEASLEY,MORCEASE J | DIRECTOR OF CURRICULUM/INSTR | $116,014.97 |
| DUNSON,HORACE C | ATHLETICS DIRECTOR | $116,014.97 |
| TRIEMER,DAVID M | SPECIAL EDUCATION SPECIALIST | $114,277.69 |
| HALL,EVELYN G | INSTRUCTIONAL SUPERVISOR | $114,036.04 |
| DRAKE,DANIEL E | PLANT OPERATIONS DIRECTOR/MGR | $112,547.64 |
| JONES,JAMES H | PRINCIPAL | $111,790.73 |
| HOSKINS,DONEVIN M | PRINCIPAL | $111,765.60 |
| BLACKMON,TONEY | TRANSPORTATION DIRECTOR/MGR | $111,540.73 |
| BOZA,JOSE G | DIRECTOR OF CURRICULUM/INSTR | $111,540.73 |
| CRAWFORD,ANGELA | SPECIAL EDUCATION DIRECTOR | $110,989.17 |
| MASSEY,KATRINA K | PRINCIPAL | $110,824.91 |
| FREEMAN,TIMOTHY W | ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL | $110,675.87 |
| CAMPBELL,ANTONETTE E | PRINCIPAL | $110,540.90 |
| KITCHENS,RONNIE A | PRINCIPAL | $109,436.88 |
| BLAYLOCK,WILLA B | PRINCIPAL | $109,142.05 |
| CASTELLE,MELANIE D | PRINCIPAL | $108,824.05 |
| JACKSON,REBECCA O | PRINCIPAL | $108,824.05 |
| MOSELEY,ROBERT G | PRINCIPAL | $108,824.05 |
| SILVERS,ESTHER R | PRINCIPAL | $108,824.05 |
| WALKER,ROBERTA R | PRINCIPAL | $108,824.05 |
| WILSON,DEBORAH L | PLANNING/EVALUATION PERSONNEL | $108,067.48 |
| WALKER,CONNIE R | FOOD SERVICE ADMINISTRATOR | $107,880.24 |
| MILLER,JOYCE | INFORMATION SERV PERSONNEL | $107,788.37 |
| SMITH,CAROLYN A | SPECIAL EDUCATION SPECIALIST | $107,788.37 |
| SWING,JOSEPH P | IS PERSONNEL – SUPPORT SERV | $107,788.37 |
| SANDERS,JENNIFER P | PRINCIPAL | $106,991.26 |
| RHODES,CHERYL L | PRINCIPAL | $106,713.38 |
| TURNER,LEIGH W | STAFF DEVELOPMENT SPECIALIST | $106,445.80 |
| CULBREATH,ANN M | PRINCIPAL | $106,099.30 |
| FREEMAN,SUSAN L | PRINCIPAL | $106,099.30 |
| JENKINS,JEFFERY T | PRINCIPAL | $106,099.30 |
| PRIESTER,LINDA | PRINCIPAL | $106,099.30 |
| AMEY,STEPHANIE R | PRINCIPAL | $105,954.94 |
| COPELAND,PATRICIA E | INSTRUCTIONAL SUPERVISOR | $105,954.81 |
| JACKSON,ANTHONY V | TRANSPORTATION DIRECTOR/MGR | $105,544.69 |
| SMITH,MARGIE M | PRINCIPAL | $105,351.63 |
| SUMLER-FAISON,JERMAIN E | PRINCIPAL | $104,752.48 |
| WILLIAMS,ANNETTE S | PRINCIPAL | $104,457.63 |
| ARNOLD,TRENTON J | DEPUTY/ASSOC/ASSISTANT SUPT | $104,429.48 |
| BRICTSON,CYNTHIA A | DEPUTY/ASSOC/ASSISTANT SUPT | $104,355.08 |
| CUNNINGHAM,KATHY L | PRINCIPAL | $103,989.88 |
| MAY,PATRICIA E | PRINCIPAL | $103,989.88 |
| WEAVER,TRISCILLA R | PRINCIPAL | $103,989.88 |
| BENSON,CAROLYN J | PRINCIPAL | $103,374.55 |
| COWAN STEELE,DEBORAH M | PRINCIPAL | $103,374.55 |
| CRUM,CORNELLIA | PRINCIPAL | $103,374.55 |
| STROZIER,ANGELA D | PRINCIPAL | $103,374.55 |
| TURNER,YOLANDA M | PRINCIPAL | $103,374.55 |
| WILSON,SANDRA L | PRINCIPAL | $103,374.55 |
| HILL,CYNTHIA L | INSTRUCTIONAL SUPERVISOR | $103,355.80 |
| SMITH,ALEXIS Q | RESEARCH PERSONNEL | $103,355.80 |
| DAVIDSON,COREY D | PRINCIPAL | $102,928.11 |
| CRENSHAW,TRACEY A | PRINCIPAL | $102,725.76 |
| WILLIAMS,VERONICA Z | PRINCIPAL | $102,337.01 |
| JENKS,MARY A | PRINCIPAL | $102,146.20 |
| BENNETT,DILMUS A | IS PERSONNEL – SUPPORT SERV | $101,947.45 |
| GUIDI,CHRISTOPHER L | IS PERSONNEL – SUPPORT SERV | $101,947.45 |
| JONES,MERLON B | PRINCIPAL | $101,765.60 |
| JONES,MICHAEL A | PRINCIPAL | $101,765.60 |
| JACKSON-ALLEN,JENNIFER M | SPECIAL EDUCATION SPECIALIST | $101,648.00 |
| WOODARD,LINDA L | HUMAN RESOURCES PERSONNEL | $101,648.00 |
| FARMER,CLAUD B | FINANCE/BUSINESS PERSONNEL | $101,342.24 |
| JACKSON,CYNTHIA G | PRINCIPAL | $101,266.38 |
| JONES,CARLA T | PRINCIPAL | $101,266.38 |
| WIMBERLY,JOYCE R | FOOD SERVICE ADMINISTRATOR | $101,104.24 |
| CROWLEY,LINDA F | INSTRUCTIONAL SUPERVISOR | $101,044.20 |
| DAVIS,TOVA J | HUMAN RESOURCES PERSONNEL | $100,799.22 |
| GARY,C CECI | GRADE 2 TEACHER | $100,711.60 |
| JONES,MICHELLE E | PRINCIPAL | $100,697.57 |
| LEUPOLD,JENNIFER A | PRINCIPAL | $100,667.98 |
| BROOKS,AUDREY V | PRINCIPAL | $100,649.79 |
| CLAY,SANDRA V | PRINCIPAL | $100,649.79 |
| HAIRSTON,ANGELA B | PRINCIPAL | $100,649.79 |
| JONES,BERNETTA | PRINCIPAL | $100,649.79 |
| MOORE,AARON | PRINCIPAL | $100,649.79 |
| TUTSON,AUGRETTA W | PRINCIPAL | $100,649.79 |
| WILSON,SUSAN C | PRINCIPAL | $100,649.79 |
| MOTON,ANGELA J | PRINCIPAL | $100,369.15 |
| ORDU,SHARON D | PRINCIPAL | $100,369.15 |
| MCLENDON,MELANIE R | IS PERSONNEL – INSTRUCTION SERV | $100,292.70 |
| THORPE,ROBERT B | PRINCIPAL | $100,170.21 |
Disclaimer: We are in support of principals earning low six-figure salaries and find the above principal salaries acceptable top pay for the job.
**We’d like to add that Ralph Simpson (of BookGate fame) is still on the payroll:
| SIMPSON,RALPH L | PRINCIPAL | $99,746.35 |
dekalb school watch two 
Compare this: I have been working in the county for over ten years and make the minimum allowed salary for teachers in Georgia! 54,000 dollars per year. With no steps and furloughs, more and more people are falling under the minimum. I simply can’t afford to work in DeKalb County anymore!
In addition, consider the following, sent in by Murphey, on another thread:
[T]he Parent Center Manager salaries are incredible! $53,084 – $72,154 for a job that only requires an Associates Degree and 3 years of experience.
There are 4 of these positions posted. That’s $200-$300K for 4 people who won’t teach children and who do not require much formal education or experience.
And from idabelle25:
I know what I need to do. Instead of leaving. I need to stop teaching kids to read and working hard to improve learning in the classroom while working two jobs and having years of experience with a Masters degree plus and apply for a job as a parent center manager just to make their starting salary and it requires less education and experience WOW! Of course, I am being sarcastic but I think a big part of the way school systems are set up is that you make more money away from the school building than with closer contact with the children and that model needs to change. I understand that if you are over a department but these pay bumps for these other district office ( not sure the purpose ) positions I don’t get and what has been brought up about the salary of the parent center manager which could be cut along with other things to restore health to the the retention issue is appalling. Who is doing logical prioritizing over there for salaries?
Don’t forget that Ralph Simpson got promoted this year. Page 962 of the detailed budget shows his salary at $101,766.
I would be interested in seeing how many employees make over $100K in other Gwinnett and Fulton.
This shows some people are still being paid above their compensation range as posted here. http://www.dekalb.k12.ga.us/human-resources/salary-ranges/ even though the HR lady says that isn’t happening.
DSW included a disclaimer: “We are in support of principals earning low six-figure salaries and find the above principal salaries acceptable top pay for the job.”
That’s great, but many DCS Principals make considerably less than 6 figures.
I’ve heard a few things that lead me to believe that Gwinett, APS and Fulton County are trying to recruit Principals away from DCS, just as they currently recruit experienced Teachers away from DCS.
Many DCS Principals would have easy interviews in other systems. A DCS Principal can say “I lead my school to accomplish (fill in long list of their accomplishments) despite all that district and board-level drama that you read about in the AJC. Just imagine what I could do in your system, where I could devote much more of my energy and time to your children, instead of being constantly sidetracked with DCS Bu——!”
Agreed there … we have about 140 schools – with 140 principals – of which only 51 make six-figure salaries. Many do make in the high 90s, but we would like to see them all so well compensated that they never have a desire to move into the Central Office or another district. And in fact, attaining the level of principal should be a very sought after goal.
Other interesting salary discoveries;
In athletics, two people make over $100k –
DUNSON,HORACE C ATHLETICS DIRECTOR $116,014.97
MCCRARY,PHILLIP C ATHLETICS PERSONNEL $118,601.00
Also, listed below are 12 “Deputy/Asst superintendents” – totaling $1,629,431.78. For those who think we can’t afford to break up the school system into smaller, independent districts, these salaries could be applied to at least 2-3 more independent school system superintendents as well as an associate for each:
TYSON,RAMONA H DEPUTY/ASSOC/ASSISTANT SUPT $180,981.08
BRANTLEY,GARY L DEPUTY/ASSOC/ASSISTANT SUPT $160,647.05
HOWE,KATHLEEN S DEPUTY/ASSOC/ASSISTANT SUPT $160,647.05
MARCH,KENDRA D DEPUTY/ASSOC/ASSISTANT SUPT $160,647.05
RAMSEY,RONALD B DEPUTY/ASSOC/ASSISTANT SUPT $160,647.05
THOMPSON,ALICE A DEPUTY/ASSOC/ASSISTANT SUPT $121,459.58
ADAMSON,DARIUS S DEPUTY/ASSOC/ASSISTANT SUPT $118,904.59
BRADSHAW,KENNETH DEPUTY/ASSOC/ASSISTANT SUPT $118,904.59
PRINGLE,ANGELA D DEPUTY/ASSOC/ASSISTANT SUPT $118,904.59
ZEIGLER,RACHEL R DEPUTY/ASSOC/ASSISTANT SUPT $118,904.59
ARNOLD,TRENTON J DEPUTY/ASSOC/ASSISTANT SUPT $104,429.48
BRICTSON,CYNTHIA A DEPUTY/ASSOC/ASSISTANT SUPT $104,355.08
There are also 45 Parent Coordinators listed in the 2013 schedule. Salaries do seem to range from the 50s to the high 70s. Lower salaries indicate that the person was hired late in the year, or moved to somewhere else. Some familiar names show up in this list…
RIVAS,STEPHON A PARENT COORDINATOR $78,646.48
GUILLORY,PHILANDREA E PARENT COORDINATOR $75,116.01
BARNES,CHARLES G PARENT COORDINATOR $71,175.00
ROGERS,RAMON PARENT COORDINATOR $68,210.60
GUILLORY,MARCUS A PARENT COORDINATOR $66,535.38
THOMPSON,LISA PARENT COORDINATOR $64,943.20
CARLOS,ROBYNE J PARENT COORDINATOR $62,365.00
POUGH,TAMMY M PARENT COORDINATOR $60,816.28
SMITH,SPARKLE T PARENT COORDINATOR $60,144.42
MAYFIELD,RODNEY L PARENT COORDINATOR $59,459.60
BROWN,ERNEST PARENT COORDINATOR $59,182.80
WATTS,KATINA PARENT COORDINATOR $58,579.60
PRICE,RONALD C PARENT COORDINATOR $57,624.60
DAWSON,GALEN PARENT COORDINATOR $55,678.54
WARNER,MARSHEA L PARENT COORDINATOR $55,274.20
ALLEN,RUTH M PARENT COORDINATOR $55,176.26
JENKINS,NICOLE S PARENT COORDINATOR $52,457.40
HOLCOMB,ANGELA N PARENT COORDINATOR $51,895.70
CORKER,WALLACE F PARENT COORDINATOR $50,948.20
JACKSON-GILL,SHERRYL A PARENT COORDINATOR $50,829.78
HARDEN,TRACIE PARENT COORDINATOR $50,286.50
GOLDAMMER,LORI PARENT COORDINATOR $49,969.50
WIMBERLY,ALVIN PARENT COORDINATOR $48,853.33
CALLAWAY,TORIE L PARENT COORDINATOR $45,680.80
BARNES,KEISHA N PARENT COORDINATOR $43,176.46
WARD-CLAUDMAN,WYLENE PARENT COORDINATOR $41,577.42
BAKER,LARRY B PARENT COORDINATOR $40,424.57
GREEN,SIMONE L PARENT COORDINATOR $39,593.01
MADISON,DELMONTE PARENT COORDINATOR $36,415.44
SALEEM,MIKAL A PARENT COORDINATOR $35,440.47
HIPP,ADINA PARENT COORDINATOR $31,750.20
GRISSOM,ANTONIO T PARENT COORDINATOR $29,845.22
WILLIAMS,TAMEICA P PARENT COORDINATOR $19,628.50
GRIFFIN,MADELINE S PARENT COORDINATOR $17,937.50
WALKER-FRANCIS,TASHA M PARENT COORDINATOR $14,018.66
DOLLISON,CLEVELAND D PARENT COORDINATOR $11,193.14
SMILEY,NATHANIEL PARENT COORDINATOR $9,776.40
MASON,KEVIN D PARENT COORDINATOR $8,388.80
EDWARDS,ALVIA N PARENT COORDINATOR $7,517.75
WATSON,PAMELA C PARENT COORDINATOR $6,810.90
MOTON,MELODY N PARENT COORDINATOR $4,342.62
EDISON,BRENDA PARENT COORDINATOR $3,732.68
HARRIS,ZETTIA D PARENT COORDINATOR $3,236.37
CARTER,PATRICIA L PARENT COORDINATOR $2,697.02
ROSSO,ANGELICA PARENT COORDINATOR $2,631.21
WHITE,CHANDA L PARENT COORDINATOR $2,000.01
WHITE,CHANDA L PARENT COORDINATOR $61,196.61
Conversely, we only employ 53 school nurses with salaries mostly in the mid-30s.
However, we employ 382 school secretaries – with average salaries in the mid-30s. The schedule does not show an assigned school, so we doubt that all of these jobs labeled school secretaries actually work in school houses of which there are only 138-140. Additionally, there are 36 people with the job title “Secretary”. And 37 titled SUPPORT SERV SECRETARY/CLERK. And 15 with the title, TRANSPORTATION SEC/CLERK. There are 62 people labeled GENERAL ADMIN SECRETARY/CLERK. And 50 people are called INFORMATION SERVICES CLERK. (That’s 582 total secretaries/clerks.)
We also only employ a grand total of 42 Social Workers (in a system with over 60% Free & Reduced lunch?!)
But, have no fear, we employ 191 School Security Officers instead. With average salaries ranging from the mid 30s to mid 50s.
Shockingly, we have 1,793 people with the term “Special Education” in their job title somehow. That includes: SPECIAL ED PARAPRO/AIDE, SPECIAL EDUCATION DIRECTOR (3 of those!), SPECIAL EDUCATION INTERRELATED (these are teachers – there are 768 of them), SPECIAL EDUCATION NURSE (25 of them), SPECIAL EDUCATION PARAPROFESSIONAL – AGES 3 TO 5, SPECIAL EDUCATION SECRETARY/CLERK, and SPECIAL EDUCATION SPECIALIST (112 of them and they are paid well; anywhere from $50k-$100k on average).
In addition — there are 61 SPEECH-LANGUAGE PATHOLOGISTs, along with an additional 251 teachers in Special Ed, with titles ranging from TEACHER OF EMOTIONAL/BEHAVIORAL, TEACHER OF HEARING IMPAIRED, TEACHER OF MILD INTELLECTUAL, TEACHER OF MODERATE INTELLECTUAL, TEACHER OF ORTHOPEDIC IMPAIRED, TEACHER OF OTHER HEALTH IMPAIRED, TEACHER OF SEVERE INTELLECTUAL, TEACHER OF SPECIFIC LEARNING, and TEACHER OF VISUALLY IMPAIRED as well as 96 people with Early Intervention/EIP in their title, .
We are happy to have so many wonderful special education teachers, however, we would love to see this entire budget and staff set aside so that we could get reliable calculations as to teacher ratios in general classrooms. Our current core classroom teachers are over-burdened and people aren’t believing it due to the fact that we have so many ‘teachers’. However, when you separate all the special education as well as art, music, PE, vocational and extras, then you finally get to the number of core classroom teachers. These are the people who are responsible for test scores and these are the people whose class sizes keep getting larger and larger. (As well as others.)
There are 15,634 people on the salary schedule for DeKalb.
According to the salary schedule:
There are 381 Kindergarten teachers.
There are 176 K-5 teachers.
There are 881 6-8 teachers.
There are 1,293 9-12 teachers.
There are 15 grade 7 teachers.
There are 27 grade 6 teachers.
There are 294 grade 5 teachers.
There are 289 grade 4 teachers.
There are 333 grade 3 teachers.
There are 344 grade 2 teachers.
There are 360 grade 1 teachers.
That’s a total of 4,393 core classroom teachers.
There are also 73 teachers labeled Gifted P-5. As well as 43 teachers labeled Gifted 9-12 and 12 simply labeled Gifted. Some of them are certainly classroom teachers. (If they are all classroom teachers, that brings the total to 4,521.)
Additionally, only 63 are listed as substitute teachers. This is strange. That number used to be well over 1,000.
The title of Deputy Associate/Assistant Supertendent is amusing! Really? Wonder if there is a job description? If so, has the job been evaluated and compared to similar jobs in the Atlanta area? And the guy from “bookgate” fame still on the payroll and even making over $100K – sad! He’d be gone from any company in private industry. And wasn’t another principal listed here moved because he was fighting (physically) with another principal on school grounds? Again, at least one of these would have been terminated in private industry and most any other school system. This is one reason why we need to clean up and clean out the bloated administration or, if that can’t be done, to have our own smaller local school systems where we can have better control and accountability .
Yes, Howdy. We also wonder about Jamie Wilson, the former head of HR who was demoted by Atkinson. As Principal of an elementary school, he made a full $40,000 more than the next highest paid principal, Joe Reed, principal of Lakeside HS, with nearly 2,000 students. Wilson should not be making this salary anymore. He should fall in line with the rest of the principals. We aren’t sure why he made this much in the FY13 schedule. He was demoted but before action could be taken, he took “family leave” for several weeks at full pay: Is DeKalb Following Georgia Law Regarding RIFs?
WILSON,JAMIE L PRINCIPAL $158,547.05
FWIW –
Fulton had 129 people who made over $100k. (Super Avossa made $315,587.21)
Gwinnett had 180 people who made over $100k. (Super Wilbanks made $503,622.67)
Cobb had 79 people who made over $100k. (Super Hinohisa made $247,625.00)
Atlanta had 124 people who made over $100k. (Super Erroll made $258,836.96)
Jamie Wilson: My understanding is that (1) there is a state law that says a state employee’s salary can only be reduced when he/she is demoted for cause and (2)
Mr. Wilson was not demoted for cause….. so Mr. Wilson gets to continue to draw his old salary.
[I don’t know why Mr. Wilson was demoted without cause. However, my guess is that he stood in the way of whatever Atkinson was doing through the instructions she sent via her text messages, and so she demoted him in order to get him out of her way.]
@dswcontributor: If what you say about Wilson is true, then why did Mr. Mosely’s salary go down when he was reassigned as principal?
2010: MOSELEY,ROBERT G DEPUTY/ASSOC/ASSISTANT SUPT $166,008.00
2013: MOSELEY,ROBERT G PRINCIPAL $108,824.05
2010: WILSON,JAMIE L PERSONNEL/HUMAN RESOURCES DIR $166,008.00
2013: WILSON,JAMIE L PRINCIPAL $158,547.05
Asst. Superintendent positions: I think the Regional Superintendents (Arnold, Zeigler, Pringle, Bricston, and Bradshaw) are terribly underpaid. Each one is responsible for 25 to 30 schools; I think most DCS schools have 75 to 100 employees each….. so each regional superintendent has 1875 to 3000 employees under them.
Also, remember one of them directed the DCS response to the McNair Shooting incident – WSBTV has a videoclip of him on their website:
\http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/dekalb-police-chief-responds-incident-elementary-s/nZTRH/
Substitute Teachers: DSW said “Additionally, only 63 are listed as substitute teachers. This is strange. That number used to be well over 1,000.”
There is actually a written memo from Tekshia Ward-Smith that BANS substitute teachers from working full time for DCS. Now, the memo doesn’t actually come out and say that; instead, it says that substitute teachers are responsible for tracking their own hours and cannot exceed so many hours per month. (When you parse the memo, it is obvious that substitute teachers cannot work full time for DCS.)
In any another other school system, Ward-Smith’s memo would be a scandal. Think about just how badly it harms education achievement — if your child has a teacher that is an accident, becomes very sick or goes on maternity leave, then your child will not have a full-time substitute teacher. Instead, your child will have one substitute teacher for a few days, then another substitute teacher for a few days, then another substitute teacher, then the first substitute teacher might be back if his/her hours for the month were low enough, etc.
@dsw2: A substitute teacher can work full time, but subs who work more than a certain number of days receive higher pay (an additional $10 per day–woo hoo!) I was out for a severe illness and have known others who have been out for maternity, surgery, etc. Each time, a single sub worked full time for several weeks. I haven’t seen the memo, but maybe what Ward–Smith means is that a full time sub must be approved in advance. Trust me, I am no apologist for the mess that is DCSS (or whatever the current acronym might be). Just clearing up a misconception.
“Jamie Wilson: My understanding is that (1) there is a state law that says a state employee’s salary can only be reduced when he/she is demoted for cause and (2)
Mr. Wilson was not demoted for cause….. so Mr. Wilson gets to continue to draw his old salary.
”
Is there link to that?
The school system contract signed by all certified personnel says you have a job but it reserves the right to place you in whatever position and school it deems necessary for the school system. And even that is not guaranteed. School systems around Georgia have said they hired too many teachers and then laid them off. So they can make changes whenever and where they want.
The subs were always listed on the salary schedule – even if they only worked a few days. The part-timers were included on the salary report.
The 2012 salary schedule shows 15,925 employees. Of those, 1,199 were listed as substitute teachers.
Total cost for subs in 2012: $7,982,136.28
2013: 63 subs totalling $444,530.23
That’s well over $7 million less!
I hate to keep harping on it, but in industry one is paid based on the job description of the job that he/she is performing. One can be demoted for a reason, the job could be re-evaluated, or the person could voluntarily move into another lower rated job. That is not a concern for the shareowner or, in this case, the taxpayer. I think taxpayers want people to perform the expectations of the job and be paid accordingly. There appears to be too much “funny stuff” going on in the DCSS. It is just as wrong to overpay someone as it is to underpay someone. Clean it out and clean it up or find people who will!!
Ronald Ramsey – Atinkson said “he is paid for the time he actually works” and his time in the Senate (away from School System business) is subtracted but …… his salary is the EXACT same as 5 other people. So….. are they all taking the same amout of unpaid leave or was the assertion about Ron just bull…..
There are also only 13 AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAM WORKERs – totaling $172,498.82
The salaries for 2013 total $566,333,637.73 (15,633 employees on the schedule) 63 subs
The salaries for 2012 total $628,245,820.44 (16,208 employees on the schedule) 1,199 subs
The salaries for 2011 total $645,373,862.23 (16,206 employees on the schedule) 1,245 subs
The salaries for 2010 total $672,342,222.22 (16,667 employees on the schedule) 1,449 subs
The salaries for 2009 total $685,548,569.31 (17,379 employees on the schedule) 1,625 subs
The salaries for 2008 total $682,709,025.22 (17,908 employees on the schedule) 1,338 subs
Darnell Fullum named DeKalb’s fire chief
Guess what his salary will be?
$150,000
Please go to the Bridge Initiative:
Click to access the-bridge-initiative-(09-09-2013).pdf
………Page 18 of 23 The 2013-2014 Budget
Close to $76,000,000 is going to be spent on Mr. Thurmond’s Bridge Initiative which does not add any personnel for directly instructing students in the content of math, science, social studies and language arts. No wonder our teachers are frustrated. How in the world did Mr. Thurmond find $76,000,000 in the budget for the non teaching side of the school system while he says he has no money for the classroom? Why would the Board approve this?
It is almost impossible to find a sub. They simply can’t make enough money. When a full-time work week was declared to be 30 hours, dekalb mandated that subs could no longer work more than 29 hours, so that dekalb would not have to cover them with insurance.add that on top of the pay cut they recently suffered, and you have subs who fill their calendars with jobs in other counties…..
Holy , Batman. That Parent Coordinator list reads like a family tree of former and current friends and family. This post almost sent me to the bathroom to throw up. This information is all that should be needed to show that the current administration and board:
Overpays its administrators (sorry, Principals should not be six figures at twice the pay of teachers)
Pays way too many adults who never teach a child
Underpays its teachers
Spends too much money on programs ahead of paying its teachers
Has PLENTY of money
Friends and Family is alive and well
I am going to bed with a sick stomach and heavy heart tonight.
@deal: We didn’t mention – teachers should be the very next ones at the top of the pay scale. Teachers should top out in the $90s or more. The starting salary should be much more enticing as well!
@The Deal
“Holy , Batman. That Parent Coordinator list reads like a family tree of former and current friends and family. ”
That is why there is high pay in this position for little educational attainment. This has been a favorite place for friends and family. Now Thurmond’s new Bridge Initiative that has no teachers directly instructing students is visiting almost $76,000,000.
$76 million could pay about 1,000 teachers. That would probably help students.
Oops sorry for the typo. Should read:
Now Thurmond’s new Bridge Initiative that does not have teachers directly instructing students is costing almost $76,000,000.
How can Thurmond say we have no money for teachers and our students must sit 30 and 35+ to a classroom with no supplies and little access to working technology? Who is advising him on these disastrous decisions for students?
@dekalbite2, who is advising him? He is advising himself. I feel like he is fully immersed in the pigs-at-the-trough, F&F crew.
What the heck is a Parent Coordinator? Whose genius idea was that? I’ve been teaching for a long time, have a masters degree, and don’t make that much!
Obviously I meant those at the top of the pay scale. What exactly do they do for that salary?
Michael Perrone, the Finance/Business Service Manager who earned $140,653.39, is the guy who resigned when Mr. Thurmond released his budget with the “found” $21 million. Here is Maureen ‘s blog about the resignation:
http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/get-schooled/2013/may/09/dekalb-schools-uncovers-overlooked-millions-financ/
Perrone apparently left his prior job as chief financial officer for Duval County Public Schools (Florida) rather that use that district’s reserve fund to balance its budget. Here is a March 29, 2012 article posted on the website of the Jacksonville, FL Times-Union newspaper:
http://members.jacksonville.com/opinion/blog/479262/teresa-stepzinski/2012-03-29/duval-schools-cfo-leaving-new-job
On May 9, 2013, Renee Starzyk at CBS Atlanta reported that “The district’s chief auditor, Michael Bell, will serve as CFO until a search is launched.”
http://www.cbsatlanta.com/story/22207519/parents-concerned-after-dekalb-schools-cfo-quits
However, the very next day (May 10), The CrossRoads News published an article titled “Perrone out, Mike Bell in as DeKalb Schools chief financial officer” that said “[Thurmond] later told the board that he will soon recommend that they officially hire Bell for the CFO position. Bell is a former DeKalb County financial director who took an early retirement buyout from the county in 2010.”
http://crossroadsnews.com/news/2013/may/10/perrone-out-mike-bell-dekalb-schools-chief-financi/
Then, on October 29, 2013, Jon Shirek at 11-Alive interviewed Mr. Thurmond and asked him three specific questions about Mike Bell, Thurmond’s CFO:
http://www.11alive.com/rss/article/311459/40/DeKalb-school-superintendent-The-buck-stops-with-me
Two days later on October 31, WABE reported that “State Releases Audit of DeKalb Schools”:
http://wabe.org/post/state-releases-audit-dekalb-schools
WABE reported that “the audit was conducted before Bell and DeKalb superintendent Michael Thurmond joined the district. Bell estimates the district will have a fund balance of about $10 million at the end of this fiscal year. “
I agree that the Parent Coordinator list is absolutely sickening. The names I read made me stand up and move away from my computer screen for a few minutes. What can we do about it? What WILL we do about it? Additionally, I am a Special Educator who could, after 27 years in Dekalb, no longer afford to work there. I was unable to support my family and jumped to City of Decatur (who, by the way, LOVES getting the cream of the crop from Dekalb. Two more former Dekalbites, both highly-touted, joined me in Decatur this year). However, the comments about the amount of Special Educators above was off-putting and a little offensive. To say that the Special Educators do not bear any responsibility for raising test scores, teaching core academics, etc., is completely wrong and ill-informed. We are the ones who help the ones who are having difficulties RAISE their scores by small group instruction within the general ed classroom. The test scores of my babies always rose each year after the interventions we put in place, and the kids were able to stay with their peers in the general ed setting through collaborative teaching. We were extremely successful and we helped ALL of the kids, not just those with IEPs. Yet, I will be the first to agree that the system is top-heavy in Special Education. That was always a complaint of my fellow teachers and myself. There are two many “coordinators” and “specialists” and they do not work directly with kids. To be honest, they are the ones with the friends at the top. That’s the gist of it. This system devalues the people on the front lines and rewards corruption. Until we do something, it won’t stop.
Michael Thurmond dedicated most of his opinion piece in the AJC last month to selling his new Bridge Initiative, describing it as a “comprehensive strategy designed to improve growth and achievement outcomes among students from economically disadvantaged families.” Thurmond proclaims, “by celebrating our current and reclaimed parent partners, we will improve educational outcomes for all 100,000 students in DeKalb County.”
I’m curious how the millions spent on Thurmond’s Bridge Initiative will improve the outcomes for all 100,000 students when, as stated in the 08/05 board meeting, the parental engagement initiaive will be based in South DeKalb, primarily in District 5.
Employment History
I’ve put together an Employment History Application. This makes it easy to track the employment history of employees. I’ll suck in the FY’13 data ASAP.
Cell Towers
I spent the evening transcribing parts of the 01/11/2014 Georgia State Superintendent Candidate Forum. All the candidates advocated for cell towers on school property except Nancy.
I wasn’t clear I guess. The teachers in the core classrooms carry the brunt of responsibility for student success. Special education teachers do as well – as do many other kinds of teachers. However, in order to really get a handle on class size, we need to figure out how many teachers are responsible for a classroom (which has been increased in size to what – 35? However, some special programs like magnets have class sizes of 15 or fewer.) Special Ed classrooms have increased as well. But they’re different – it just would be nice to honestly assess where the budget is going. I’m just saying that we can’t do that if we lump all teachers together and then divide into the total number of students.