District 214 superintendent gets bonus from board
Northwest Suburban High School District 214 Superintendent Dave Schuler received a $7,500 bonus last month for “meeting and exceeding performance expectations,” according to documents obtained by the Daily Herald under a Freedom of Information Act request.
Schuler, who has been superintendent of Illinois’ second largest high school district since 2005, makes a base salary of $217,500 under his current contract that runs through 2016. When Schuler was hired as superintendent in 2005 he was paid a base salary of $175,000.
School board President Jim Perkins said Schuler has eight priorities to work on throughout the year and at his midyear review the board felt he had excelled at them.
One of the priorities was to explore community partnerships for getting artificial turf installed at all six high schools. He’s well ahead of schedule — within the past year two high schools already have synthetic turf and three more are scheduled to have it installed in the next year.
“I’ve very happy the board is pleased with the work we’ve been doing,” said Schuler, who considers the bonus a performance incentive. He said he is happy with progress on student achievement, visibility of the administration and the other goals put before him.
Board member Alva Kreutzer was the lone “no” vote when this was passed Feb. 2. She said Schuler is doing a “great” job, but she thought when the board raised his salary in June it would no longer feel the need to give bonuses. Before the board raised his salary in June, Schuler was making $207,733.18.
In each of the last two school years Schuler received $15,000 bonuses, according to Venetia Miles, director of community relations for District 214.
“I’m just questioning why the board is giving the superintendent a bonus when his bottom line (salary) is that high,” Kreutzer said. “No one else gets a bonus in this district and he doesn’t work in isolation so why are we doing this?”
Kreutzer added she didn’t think it was right in this economy to hand out bonuses, citing the uncertainty of state money for schools and the possibility that pension burdens may be unloaded on school districts in the future.
“This doesn’t say he’s not doing a good job, he is doing great,” she said. “But, don’t our other employees do a really good job?”
The school board has direct control only over the superintendent’s contract, Perkins said, adding the bonus money will come out of the general salary and benefits budget item.
“Over the years Dr. Schuler has always impressed us with his drive, his passion, his work ethic and he delivers results,” Perkins said. “We feel that we have a very valuable asset in our community and we want to make sure that he is recognized and rewarded.”
Schuler’s contract calls for him to get reviews twice annually, Perkins said. He didn’t know if Schuler will get another bonus in June.
Kreutzer said she is doing her own study, calling at least a dozen area districts to see if others are giving top administrators bonuses this year, and she hasn’t found anything similar so far.