Madison school board approves raises for admin, staff

Administrators and support staff at Madison County schools were awarded a 3 percent pay raise this year, but one administrator did not accept the extra cash.

Board members voted unanimously Monday to award Madison County Schools Superintendent Ronnie McGehee a pay raise, but McGehee requested his salary be kept at its current level, district finance director Debbie Jones said.

The pay raises are retroactive to July 1.

RELATED: Superintendent Salaries Statewide

McGehee took home $149,064 last year, making him the 20th-highest-paid superintendent in the state. The Madison County School District enrolls 12,182 students and is rated an "A" district by the state Department of Education.

School board secretary Sam Kelly said administrators and support staff were given a raise after going several years without one. Board members also took into account that teachers received pay raises during the legislative session earlier this year. Those teacher raises went into effect July 1.

"Again, looking at the overall performance and efforts of all of our employees, we felt like it was appropriate to give what, quite frankly, is a very modest increase," Kelly said.

Kelly said the board also recently evaluated McGehee and decided a raise was appropriate.

"We went through that process a month or two ago, and our conclusion was that Dr. McGehee is doing an excellent job in leading the Madison County School District, and that shows in the results of our individual schools," Kelly said. "We looked at the salaries of the superintendents throughout the state, and we made an adjustment that we thought was fair and equitable given the successes we have had as a school district."

McGehee said he decided not to accept the raise because he believes those dollars can be used elsewhere. The raise would have added about $4,500 to his yearly salary.

Nearby Rankin County and Clinton school superintendents also recently received pay raises. The board voted to award Rankin County Superintendent Lynn Weathersby a 2 percent pay raise after his yearly evaluation in January, and Clinton's Phillip Burchfield received a $5,000 raise. Those raises put Weathersby's salary at $153,979 and Burchfield's at $180,000.

"His (Burchfield's) raise was based on his evaluation and the academic successes of our school district," said Sandi Beason, spokewoman for the Clinton district. She noted the superintendent hadn't received a raise since 2010, when the district had to reduce staff and furlough employees.

Weathersby had not received a raise the prior year, said Kevin Brantley, the Rankin County district's chief financial officer.

Each district's school board determines the salary level of its superintendent, who is evaluated yearly. Although boards are not required to use the evaluation as part of the salary determination, they often do, according to Michael Waldrop, executive director of the Mississippi School Board Association.

"Some determine (salaries) based on the size of the school district, the number of years of employment, whether or not the state gave raises to teachers that year," Waldrop said. "More and more school boards are putting in the contracts that you have to meet certain performance standards in order to get a raise."

The highest superintendent salary in the state last year was $200,000 for Jackson Public Schools Superintendent Cedrick Gray.

To contact Kate Royals, call (601) 360-4619 or email kroyals@gannett.com. Follow @KRRoyals on Twitter.