KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Leaders of Knox County Schools met Friday to discuss the ongoing search for a new superintendent and recommended a starting salary at $250,000 per year to attract applicants.
"Superintendents are hot commodities right now, nationwide," said board member Evetty Satterfield. "And good ones at that. We are also aware that Superintendent Thomas, just by nature of the man he is, did not take a full salary."
Bob Thomas, who has more than 40 years with the school system, started at around $200,000. However, officials said that he started on the low end of the salary range.
Thomas is retiring in June.
Board member Patti Bounds said the position salary should take into consideration the salary of teachers and other staff members in the county. She said that they are underpaid compared to surrounding counties.
She also mentioned that benefits and additional payments could be up to $35,000, but the board did not vote on those benefits.
They discussed offering a salary range but decided to provide an exact salary in the search with the possibility of negotiating with candidates for higher pay rates instead.
They also decided to get rid of the current job description, which specified the responsibilities and duties of the county's superintendent. Satterfield said the responsibilities were already part of system's existing policies, which superseded the job description.
She said getting rid of the description also helped eliminate discrepancies in what would be expected of the superintendent. Officials also said that the policies mirror requirements from state law and that the criteria created as part of the search met some expectations in the original job description.
They said they would either create a new policy for the superintendent or update the current one.
"The job description is not needed because, when you look at a job description you're looking at who you are and what you do," said Satterfield. "The 'who you are' is already selected in the criteria and the 'what you do' is already found in our work policy."
Board member Betsy Henderson also mentioned Hamilton County recently hired a superintendent, and they expected to see similar candidates as that school system since it is so nearby.
The recommendations will be presented to the entire board of education at their next meeting before the recommendations can be included in the search for a new superintendent.
They also plan to ask how performance evaluations could be tied to the superintendent's contract and planned to recommend medical examinations and criminal background checks as part of the search.