Schools’ chiefs get big raises

By Emily Richmond (contact)

Wednesday, July 20, 2005 | 10:36 a.m.

For taking on duties as co-interim superintendents of the Clark County School District, Agustin Orci and Walt Rulffes are getting raises of nearly $70,000 each.

The pay hikes were approved by the Clark County School Board late last month with little fanfare or public scrutiny.

Rulffes, deputy superintendent of operations, and Orci, deputy superintendent of instruction, were tapped by the School Board to serve as co-interim superintendents for the duration of the search for a full-time replacement. They will each earn $200,748 for the duration of the one-year special contract.

That's a raise of 52 percent for Orci and 46 percent for Rulffes. They were earning $132,424 and $137,150 respectively.

Rulffes was given the authority to sign contracts on the district's behalf and to hire and fire employees. He also moved his office from a side corridor to the superintendent's suite, which is adjacent to Orci's office in the executive wing of the School District's main headquarters on East Flamingo Road.

The pay increases were approved at the June 23 School Board meeting, after a closed-door session, on a 4-1 vote.

School Board President Larry Mason was the lone dissenting vote, saying he believed it was too much money. Mason said Tuesday he would have preferred the men receive the district's standard 15 percent pay increase for taking on additional job responsibilities.

But Orci said the 15 percent increase is used for short-term changes in job duties, typically less than two months.

"This isn't a usual situation at all. There won't be someone in the (superintendent) position for a year," Orci said Tuesday.

The additional responsibilities of the co-interim superintendent titles means he and Rulffes are "two men doing the work of three," Orci said.

However, he and Rulffes didn't want to request the School Board simply divide Garcia's salary and give each of them half, Orci said. Garcia's base pay was $212,242 annually, with about $18,000 in additional benefits.

"We felt the amount (approved) was reasonable," Orci said. "We wanted to be fair but also responsible to the taxpayers. The remaining amount of what would have been Mr. Garcia's pay is available to the School Board to spend as they see fit, possibly toward the superintendent search costs."

While neither Orci nor Rulffes have publicly acknowledged interest in serving as the full-time sole superintendent both men are considered front-runners for the position. Two consultants hired by the School Board to conduct the candidate search said they hope to begin soliciting applications this fall with finalists to be interviewed by the winter. The School Board would then confirm a candidate in the spring with the individual beginning work prior to the start of the 2006-07 academic year.

The year-long contract states that at the end of the superintendent hiring process both Orci and Rulffes will revert to their original job responsibilities and salary.

Rulffes and Orci both declined to say whether they would be willing to return to their prior posts as deputy superintendents.

Mason said while he was disappointed his fellow School Board members did not side with him in the vote there is one potential side benefit to the raises: it bolsters his long-standing argument that the base salary of the superintendent should be comparable with chief executives and top officers of companies and educational institutions of similar size and scope.

"When we put together the job description at the (August 4th School Board) meeting we're going to have to come up with a pay range around $300,000," Mason said. "Our enrollment's going to be 298,000 next month. The superintendent should get paid a buck a kid. That's always been the formula I've wanted and I'm sticking to that."