Salary, contract details for new Edmond superintendent revealed
Josh Delich speaks to news reporters after the Edmond Board of Education hired him as the next superintendent of Edmond Public Schools on April 14, 2025, at the district's administration center. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — A new superintendent at Edmond Public Schools will start his tenure with a higher base salary than the retiring district leader he will replace.
Josh Delich will earn a base salary of $236,903 when he takes office July 1, along with a $20,000 relocation stipend to move to Edmond from Minnesota, where he is an associate superintendent in the state's largest school district.
Delich will succeed Superintendent Angela Grunewald, who earned a base salary of about $221,000 in 2024 and in 2025 received a total compensation of $248,144 when factoring in the total value of her benefits as well as her base salary, state records show. Grunewald is retiring after four years in charge of Edmond schools.
After hiring Delich on Monday, the district released his contract Friday afternoon to Oklahoma Voice, showing the incoming superintendent's salary, benefits and additional stipends.
It's unclear how much Delich's total benefits will cost on top of his base salary. His contract states the district will cover the full price of premiums for his health, vision and dental insurance, and it will pay both the employer and employee's portions of his contribution into the state's Teacher Retirement System. He also will receive $500 per month as an automobile allowance.
In addition to his relocation stipend, the district will pay Delich $3,000 per month for up to six months to maintain his home in Minnesota until it is sold.
Delich will earn $987.10 per day for an expected 23 days for work completed before he takes office as superintendent. A temporary contract lasting until June 30 states he will consult with district officials as he transitions into the administration, including assisting with new employee hires, budget work, facility planning and opening, strategic planning and other tasks deemed necessary.
Because Delich will be working with Edmond schools during the transition, he will forgo compensation from the Minnesota district, the contract states. His Edmond contract includes a buyout stipend of no more than $18,000. The final amount of the buyout stipend is still to be determined, according to the contract.
Once he takes office, he will be subject to a yearly performance evaluation after which the school board could agree to raise his base salary, which is a common practice for district superintendents. His salary could only decrease through a mutual agreement, according to the contract.
Delich will be near, if not among, the top 20 highest-earning Oklahoma superintendents when he becomes the chief executive in Edmond, the state's fourth-largest district with 25,700 students.
Norman Public Schools Superintendent Nick Migliorino tops the list with $411,955 in annual salary and benefits, according to compensation data the Oklahoma State Department of Education compiled.
The state agency's list, though, doesn't include Jamie Polk, who leads the state's second-largest district, Oklahoma City Public Schools. At the time Polk was hired last year, her contract set out a $250,000 base salary, not including benefits and a potential performance bonus.
Like Polk, Delich is a first-time superintendent. He has 21 years of experience in education as a teacher, coach, principal and district administrator. He was an assistant superintendent in St. Paul Public Schools in Minnesota before joining Anoka-Hennepin Schools, Minnesota's largest district.
While introducing him as the district's next leader, Edmond school board President Courtney Hobgood praised Delich's experience, his heart for education and his 'passion for continuing the forward progress in Edmond and building on our history of success.'
Delich said Monday he is 'blessed and humbled' to become the superintendent of Edmond, which he called a destination district with an 'immense amount of excellence.' He and his wife, Desirae, will have their two daughters start school in Edmond in the coming year, according to a letter he penned to district families.
'I want to infuse myself and integrate myself into (the) system to best learn what is going on with Edmond in terms of the excellence that's happening and also look at the areas that we need to improve and advance while at the same time giving a sense of calm to a district that I know, when you have a new leader, there's that sense of anxiety,' Delich said while speaking with news media Monday.
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