Various Reports Fuel Discussion About School Superintendent, Administration Pay in Illinois–Salaries for Vandalia School District Administrators

Within the last month, several reports have stirred up discussions about the pay of Illinois school superintendents and administrators. A month ago, the Chicago Tribune published an article discussing districts where salaries paired out to administration don’t reflect the district sizes, financial status or the performance levels of students. More recently, the Illinois Policy Institute at the end of the last week discussed the amount some top administrators in the state are paid and how consolidating schools districts could have a negative effect according to a national education expert. The salaries of public school teachers are public record on the Illinois State Board of Education’s website. The Vandalia School District links it public information to the Administration page on the district website with their information updated in July. The Illinois School Report Card is set to be released this Thursday, but the enrollment on the last report card showed 1,452 students for the Vandalia School District with the average teacher salary below the state average for the past 5-year trend and for administrators, shows a decrease in administrators salaries over the past five year average with the average administrators salaries about $20,000 below the state average. The Salary and Benefits Report released in July on the district’s website shows Superintendent Jennifer Garrison at a base salary of $174,629, VCHS Principal Randy Protz at $139,038, VJHS Principal Brian Kern at $111,045 and VES Principal Greta Krueger at $97,176. Other administrators include VCHS Assistant Principal Michael Mabry at $81,900, VJHS Assistant Principal Brian Holliday at $96,453 and VES Assistant Principal Joe Vanzo at $79,786 and Vandalia Athletic Director Jason Clay at $83,500. Those numbers put just two of the eight administrators above the state average for the 2023-2024 school year of just under $120,000 with the new average for the 2024-2025 school year coming out this Thursday. More information on the district is available on the district’s information page on their website at https://www.vandals203.org/page/district-information.