Latest news with #TeacherRetirementSystem
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
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. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Texas Teacher Retirement System leader says Senate voucher proposal would not harm retirement funds
The head of Texas' Teacher Retirement System on Wednesday sought to assure lawmakers that a Senate proposal to create a school voucher program would not harm the state's teacher retirement fund as suggested in a recent legislative analysis. During a House Appropriations Committee meeting, lawmakers who help oversee the state budget questioned Brian Guthrie, executive director of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, on how Senate Bill 2 could affect the stability of funds reserved for retired teachers. Under SB 2, families could receive public tax dollars through state-managed education savings accounts to pay for their children's tuition at an accredited private school and other expenses like textbooks, transportation and therapy. Texas budget experts recently concluded in their analysis of SB 2 that public schools, which receive money based on attendance, may experience a decrease in funding due to students leaving the public education system to participate in the voucher program. The analysis, which relies on estimates provided by the Texas Education Agency, projects that roughly 24,500 students would leave public schools for private schools starting in the 2026-27 school year, increasing to 98,000 by 2030. Public school administrators and education advocates have long opposed the creation of a voucher program in Texas, saying it would deal a significant blow to public school funding. But a different part of the bill analysis, based on information provided by the Teacher Retirement System, raised worries among public education advocates and state lawmakers in recent weeks. The analysis noted that a decrease in the number of teachers paying into the state's teacher retirement fund — which could happen if a voucher program leads students and teachers to exit public schools for private schools — could affect the fund's long-term stability. Lawmakers on Wednesday said they have received concerns from their constituents about the stability of the retirement funds. Guthrie apologized to House lawmakers for the commotion the SB 2 analysis has caused. Based on the content of the bill and the education agency estimates his organization has reviewed, Guthrie clarified that he does not believe the legislation would harm Texas' teacher retirement fund. The Teacher Retirement System executive director said his agency intended to offer the scenario in the bill analysis as a hypothetical, adding that 'it would be very difficult for SB 2' as it currently exists and with current projections to hurt the fund's stability. The analysis also states that the retirement system can currently withstand 'some outflow of teacher employment from public schools to private schools.' 'That's just the bottom line,' Guthrie said. That explanation did not appear to fully settle Rep. Mary E. González's concerns. The Clint Democrat noted that the SB 2 analysis does not account for changes to population growth, public school enrollment or birth rates, for example. She suggested those factors, combined with a voucher program, could also affect the number of students and teachers in public schools and the fund's stability. 'We can all have different opinions about SB 2,' González said. 'But I do want our retired teachers to have all the accurate information, and I think that's really critical.' The SB 2 analysis noted that the number of teachers paying into the retirement fund in the future will 'ultimately depend on Texas' population growth.' The number of teachers contributing to the retirement fund has consistently gone up in recent years, the analysis shows. During the Senate floor debate over the legislation earlier this month, Sen. Brandon Creighton, the Conroe Republican who authored the bill, sought to reassure his colleagues that the proposal would not affect the Teacher Retirement System, stating that 'we would never design a program that would put TRS at risk.' He made those comments in response to questions from Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, chair of the Senate Committee on Finance, who also said she has seen no evidence from other states that voucher programs harm teacher retirement funds. In a finance committee meeting last week, Huffman again attempted to dismiss those concerns. 'Of course we are committed to not doing anything to hurt our retired' teachers, she said. 'It would be stupid to do.' We can't wait to welcome you to the 15th annual Texas Tribune Festival, Texas' breakout ideas and politics event happening Nov. 13–15 in downtown Austin. Step inside the conversations shaping the future of education, the economy, health care, energy, technology, public safety, culture, the arts and so much more. Hear from our CEO, Sonal Shah, on TribFest 2025. TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase.
