After reviewing the compensation models for every school division in the province, the Government of Alberta is putting a new framework in place that makes superintendent's compensation align with Alberta's other public sector agencies, boards, and commissions.

The framework, introduced yesterday (June 1) by Education Minister David Eggen, will reduce overall compensation by an average of ten percent in the province.  It will result in a cut in the compensation for Rocky View Superintendent Greg Luterbach.  

The new approach puts all school divisions in the province into levels of one to five based on their size and the responsibilities of each superintendent.  Calgary and Edmonton school divisions are at the highest level, Level Five.  The Rocky View School Division (RVS) falls into Level Four.  

It lays out a minimum salary for each level, a school board maximum or midpoint salary and an absolute maximum salary.  It allows boards and superintendents to negotiate a salary up to the school board maximum.  Any salary between that and the absolute maximum requires Ministerial approval.

In the case of RVS, the school board maximum is set at $203,000.  which would mean a cut of $12,000 a year to Luterbach's current compensation of $215,000 a year.  Luterbach is not paid any bonuses and hasn't received an increase since being hired in 2016.  The absolute maximum figure for RVS, or the figure which would require Ministerial approval, is $228,000.      

 When we reached out to RVS for comment we were directed to Barry Litun, the Executive Director of the College of School Superintendents (CASS) who provided a statement from CASS President Christopher McPhee which reads:

"CASS has been committed from the outset of this review process to working with the government to create a compensation structure that is fair, equitable and transparent, and would respect the vital role our superintendents play as education system leaders. While not all of CASS’ recommendations for a new structure were adopted by the government in this review, our Superintendents remain fully dedicated to overseeing and managing the schools where our children thrive. We will work with the government to ensure the new structure is properly implemented across the province and that our collective energy remains focused on our students."

In making the announcement yesterday, Eggen said the change in compensation would give the government about $1.5 million to put back into classrooms.

Eggen said in his review of superintendent's contracts he found 17 of them featured retirement or severance pay agreements that included up to one year's full salary and others that included a $1,2000 payment for a gym membership and $10,000 a year for a superintendent's children's post-secondary education. 

Another contract provided $1,200 a year to pay the spouse of a superintendent to attend school board events. 

Questions, comments or story ideas? Email us at news@discoverairdrie.com