A few years ago, I sent a Sunshine Law request to the Joplin R-8 School District asking for a list of employees, their titles and their salaries and benefits.
It was a fascinating read, to say the least, and I was surprised by the overwhelming response I received from Turner Report readers.
Unfortunately, the most recent salaries were posted last year and were for the 2023-24 school year, but here are a few that interested me and might interest you:
Area Superintendent Salaries for 2023-24 (Pay Packages)
Joplin- Kerry Sachetta- $215,455
Webb City- Tony Rossetti $235,750
Carl Junction- Phil Cook $180,632
Carthage- Luke Boyer $181,600
Neosho- Jim Cummins- $198,000
***
Two Webb City R-7 officials received must have hefty pay increases this year. Brenten Byrd, who replaced Rossetti as superintendent, was making $148,000 as an assistant superintendent, while Allison Pope, who replaced Byrd as assistant superintendent was making $120,000 as superintendent of the small Hurley district.
Though the latest listings are for 2023-24, there's no doubt that former Neosho R-5 Assistant Superintendent Richie Fretwell is making more money than he made last year and doing considerably less.
Fretwell's pay increased from $144,695 last year to $150,483 this year, but he won't have to do any work for the pay since the R-5 Board of Education reached an agreement with Fretwell to put him on a a paid leave of absence through June 30.
Nice work if you can get it.
Do you think it's time for me to send out a few Sunshine Law requests?
The Turner Report: Richie Fretwell still officially employed by Neosho R-5, being paid to do nothing
I’m sure you already know this but the salary listed in the Dispatch does not include the extra stipends they get in addition to their salary. So these numbers are probably low figures when you add those extras in that don’t get listed. It’s a bit insane.
ReplyDeleteGet a life, Randy and quit with the garbage click-bait. Check out the Nixa superintendent’s pay and other district’s in SWMO.
ReplyDeleteOnly a highly paid administrator would write such a comment. Springfield area schools are at another level in terms of pay. It is nice to have someone who fights the top-heavy Joplin Area schools, and believe it or not, every school in the area has ADDED admin positions this year. Keep up the good work.
DeleteDo we really think that the Superintendents / Administrators of Schools are Really Worth - Paying Over 4 to 5 -Times the Average Teacher's Salary in Missouri?
ReplyDeleteAs of January 2025, the average salary for a teacher in Missouri is $43,701 per year, or about $21.01 per hour. However, salaries can range from $19,698 to $65,191.
Again, Missouri is Ranked 34th in Education in the United States.
The United States is Ranked 13th in Education in the World.
Do we have to many Levels of Administrators in the School Systems or is it the Teachers Union - the NEA (National Education Association) with over 3,000,000 + Members who pay their Annual Dues to - and then the NEA - Lobby's and Promotes and Tries to Elect Democrats and then pushes their Political Policies and Practices - So should we BLAME THE DEMOCRATS - Because our Educational System is Failing to Provide Students with an Education that can Support them in the Future - -
What political party does NEA support?
Like other American labor unions, the NEA has favored the Democratic Party, giving its endorsement and support to every Democratic nominee for President since Jimmy Carter. It has never endorsed any Republican or third party candidate for the presidency.
The teacher unions have nothing to do with NEA. Administrators cannot join NEA for protection.
DeleteYikes, I bet none of those people are happy to see their salaries posted online. There's room for resentment.
ReplyDeleteKerry Sachetta is so cute when he sits in his big boy chair and his feet dangle just above the floor.
ReplyDeleteAs 8:09PM stated are their salaries realistic for what school officials do and what they accomplish? If yes, then why is Missouri and the United States so far behind the rest of the country and the world? Since Schools are funded by tax dollars, like the government, are they so misaligned and misconnected to reality that they have no fear whether they do a good job or not?
ReplyDeleteIt all starts with the low funding from the State and trickles down.
DeleteThe market usually sets salaries.
ReplyDelete@4:40 if a government entity is involved in buying anything in a market (labor, guns, butter), it is by definition, not _free_. I'm very tired of hearing this kind of statement. There is no such thing as a free market (i.e. one that exists without coercion) when taxes are involved. Not making a moral judgement on that, just telling you that you should really think hard about what you are saying and whether your assertion holds water here.
ReplyDelete@Randy, you may be further interested to know that $150k in 2024 had the same purchasing power (CPI) as $39,423 in 1980. I would be very interested in seeing these numbers historically. My bet would be that leadership's pay has largely kept up with inflation and teacher's pay has fallen woefully behind.
We should also consider that the superintendent's position is a 12-month contract whereas teachers have only 10 months. Im not saying that two months is worth an extra 100k a year but their work is never-ending. Superintendents also have much higher educations than teachers. As a teacher,, I would never move up to a superintendent's position because of all the scrutiny they face and public light. To be honest, they are just the scapegoat for the school board which has all the control in the district, but as soon as something goes bad whose fault is it. Not the board but the Superintendents!
ReplyDelete5:17AM - Yes, the NEA (National Education Association) is a labor union, considered the largest labor union in the United States, representing public school teachers and other education support personnel.
ReplyDeleteThe Administrators are Not Union but the majority of the Administrators are Former Teachers and were in the Union. The NEA / Union gets its Playbook from the Democrats - Policies and Agenda - and the Administration continues the Kool-AID - Why do you think the NEA - Donates and Fund Raises for the Democrats - Also, continue READING and you will see that in some Larger School Districts - Principals can still be in the Unions...
FYI - Are principals part of the teachers union?
Parents and the public are represented by superintendents and school boards, but at school sites they rely on principals and other supervisors.
However, in many of the largest districts, these school managers are also union members. Aug 22, 2023
Come On - If you do not see the Connections - Union - Teachers, Administrators - Democratic Polices / Agenda - and our Failed School Systems - You need to get Glasses - Not to be able to Connect the Dots.
I was waiting to see how long it would take for 621 to complete their diatribe of partisan BS to blame dems again. Didn't take long. I might consider reading 621's point of view if they would only acknowledge that BOTH dem and pub mismanagement of the dept of education has caused this bureaucracy of partisan failure. Otherwise, 621still spewing ridiculously outlandish deplorable magat view that can't be taken seriously.
DeleteThanks for posting this, if they are government employees we should know what they make, this information is easily found. If you don’t want your compensation public don’t work for the government and quit your whining. It’s like every other job out there I’ve had teachers that should be making premium money and I’ve had others that didn’t earn a dime of what they were paid.
ReplyDelete