See who Orange County's top 10 paid school…
See who Orange County's top 10 paid school employees are, all earning over $300,000, report says
Richard Miller, at the time superintendent of SAUSD. (NICK AGRO, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER/SCNG)
By Beau Yarbrough | byarbrough@scng.com and Chris Haire | chaire@scng.com | The Press-Enterprise
PUBLISHED: November 17, 2016 at 7:50 a.m. | UPDATED: June 4, 2018 at 3:32 p.m.
Three of the top 10 paid school employees in Orange County in 2015 came from the same school district – Newport-Mesa Unified – and all 10 received more than $300,000 in salary and benefits.
All but one of the 10 are superintendents, though two have since retired.
The data for Orange County and the rest of the state were published Tuesday by Transparent California, a government-accountability website that received raw numbers from school districts statewide.
The average California public school district superintendent made $213,511 in total compensation in 2015, Transparent California data showed.
"The total compensation per student increased pretty much across the board" between 5 percent and 10 percent at California school districts, according to Transparent California Research Director Robert Fellner. The movement comes largely as an increase in benefits, rather than salary, he said.
"The increase in benefits, that's going up every year, even if salaries stay flat each year," Fellner said.
The highest paid Orange County educator was former Superintendent Richard Miller, who received $378,919 to run Santa Ana Unified, which has 56,000 students and a $583 million operating budget, Transparent California says.
Newport-Mesa had employees rank second, third and seventh – though one of those employees, the human resources director, John Caldecott, had his contract terminated last year and received 18 months of salary as a buyout, inflating his pay.
The 10th highest pay in Orange County, for Tustin Unified Superintendent Gregory Franklin, was $327,881 in 2015. In 2014, he was named the best superintendent in the state by the Association of California School Administrators.
"It'd be a pretty stupid thing for a school district to hire somebody other than the best they can find," said Lynn Davis, Board of Education president for Tustin Unified, about the six-figure salaries for superintendents. "The superintendent sets the tone for the entire school district, so he's worth every penny."
The figures from Transparent California combine different stipends into "regular pay," and the portion districts pay into retirement systems into "benefits" – even though that money is years from being cashed.
And in one case, the numbers are out of date.
Saddleback Valley Unified superintendent Clint Harwick made $333,887, according to Transparent California, but district personnel analyst Gigi Cole said that, because of a contract settlement, "His salary was actually about 3 percent higher than the numbers they have."
ORANGE COUNTY'S HIGHEST-PAID SCHOOL EMPLOYEES
1. Richard Miller
Superintendent, Santa Ana Unified School District
Regular pay: $320,685
Overtime: $0
Other pay: $7,200
Benefits: $51,034.48
Total pay and benefits $378,919.48
2. Paul Reed
Deputy superintendent and chief business official, Newport-Mesa Unified School District
Other pay: $49,415
Total pay and benefits: $373,699.50
3. Frederick Navarro
Superintendent, Newport-Mesa Unified School District
4. Al Mijares
Superintendent, Orange County Department of Education
Benefits: $58,981
Total pay and benefits: $366,360
5. Sherry Kropp
Superintendent, Los Alamitos Unified School District
6. Greg Plutko
Superintendent, Huntington Beach Union School District
Regular pay: $0
Other pay: $313,786
Total pay and benfits: $355,224
7. John Caldecott*
Human resources director, Newport-Mesa Unified School District
Regular pay: $36,653
Benefits: $4,809.17
8. Kirsten Vital
Superintendent, Capistrano Unified School District
Other pay: $0
9. Clint Harwick
Superintendent, Saddleback Valley Unified School District
10. Gregory Franklin
Superintendent, Tustin Unified School District
*Was terminated in early 2015 and received 18 months of pay as a buyout.
Contact the writer: 714-796-6979 or chaire@scng.com
Beau Yarbrough | Reporter
Beau Yarbrough wrote his first newspaper article taking on an authority figure (his middle school principal) when he was in 7th grade. He's been a professional journalist since 1992, working in Virginia, Egypt and California. In that time, he's covered community news, features, politics, local government, education, the comic book industry and more. He's covered the war in Bosnia, interviewed presidential candidates, written theatrical reviews, attended a seance, ridden in a blimp and interviewed both Batman and Wonder Woman (Adam West and Lynda Carter). He also cooks a mean pot of chili.
byarbrough@scng.com
Follow Beau Yarbrough	@LBY3
Chris Haire | Editor
Chris Haire has a bachelor's degree in journalism at San Francisco State University and a master's degree, with honors, from the Columbia University School of Journalism. Chris came to the Orange County Register as an intern; four months later, he became a staffer. Currently, he is coastal cities editor for the Long Beach Press-Telegram and Daily Breeze, part of the Southern California News Group.
chaire@scng.com
Follow Chris Haire	@CJHaire