School board members think of superintendent contracts as required reading. In addition to trustees, reporters and interested citizens regularly seek out superintendent contract details. Actually pulling relevant details out and discerning what is normal and what is special in terms of pay or benefits is another thing entirely.
To help put superintendent contracts in perspective, the 2008–09 Superintendent Report delivers a snapshot of “the norm” in Texas superintendent compensation and benefits. In this year’s report, 867 school districts provided information about their superintendent’s contract, so we know that a typical Texas public school superintendent:
Of course, each superintendent contract is unique, so other benefits are provided to some superintendents, particularly in larger districts. Nearly all superintendents in the survey (93 percent) receive at least one benefit or allowance on top of base salary. Those noted above are the most common, with at least 44 percent of respondents reporting the benefit.
A small group of superintendents (6 percent) also receive bonuses for their job performance or for staying with their district. The average bonus was $9,339 (7 percent of salary). Ten percent of districts make special contributions to tax-deferred retirement accounts for their superintendent. This practice is more common in districts with more than 10,000 students, with nearly one-third of districts in that category providing the benefit. The average contribution in all districts that provide the benefit is $7,426. Most of these districts require the superintendent to stay with the district for a specified period before they have access to the district’s contribution to the account.
Some superintendents receive assistance with housing (14 percent) in the form of an allowance or a district-owned residence. District-paid special life and/or disability insurance policies are found in 8 percent of districts. A few districts (8) spent an average of $24,544 to help their superintendent purchase additional TRS service credits.
The value of benefits for superintendents can range from 10 to 40 percent of their total compensation package. While there are common pay elements across districts, each compensation package is developed independently with the input of unique boards and superintendents.
Brief survey highlights 
are available on the HR Services Web site . HR DataCentral subscribers can create custom superintendent comparison reports. Reports can also be accessed by members through myTASB or purchased by nonmembers in the TASB Store.
The 2008–09 Superintendent Report is the first of four reports that comprise the annual TASB/TASA Salaries and Wages in Texas Public Schools survey. Watch for the 2008–09 Teacher Report, which will be available in December.
