PROVIDENCE — Supt. Donnie Evans was not only the highest paid municipal employee in the city in 2006, he was the highest paid municipal employee in the state. But Evans’ pay was actually slightly below the national average for urban superintendents, which is $202,969, according to the American Association of School Administrators.

Evans was paid $190,742, more than Providence Police Chief Dean M. Esserman, at $170,277, and Mayor David N. Cicilline, at $126,804, according to a Providence Journal analysis of payroll records. Evans’ salary includes a deferred compensation package of $8,000, according to Mark Dunham, the School Department’s chief financial officer.

In general, school superintendents are among the highest-paid employees in the state but there’s a reason for that.

“Look at the job of superintendent,” said Joe Cirasuolo, chief operating officer of the American Association of School Administrators. “It’s a 70- to 80-hour-a-week job. Look at what CEOs of a $322-million company make and you’d find Evans’ [pay] pales by comparison.

“Urban superintendents are typically running the biggest transportation system in the state,” he said. “They have many constituencies. They have to answer to the school board, teachers, parents and government officials. The buck stops here and you enter the job knowing that. At the very least, you ought to be compensated for it.”

Superintendents, particularly in the era of No Child Left Behind and high-stakes testing, are particularly vulnerable to the slings and arrows of political fortune, Cirasuolo said. Evans recently decided to leave at the end of his three-year contract, which expires in September, after facing mounting criticism from the Providence Teachers’ Union and the City Council.

In fact, the average tenure of an urban superintendent is three years.

Top school administrators are also well-compensated, in Providence and around the country.

Donald W. Zimmerman, who resigned as the director of human resources in 2006, earned $145,969. That figure includes 58 days of unused vacation days that total $26,278, Dunham said.

At $145,176, former Deputy Supt. Frances Gallo was the third-highest paid school administrator in 2006. Gallo has since resigned to run the Central Falls School Department. In medium-sized cities, the average deputy superintendent earns about $130,000, according to the Association of School Administrators.

The principals of the three academies at Hope High School were paid between $126,628 and $139,484, considerably more than the average principal’s salary of $108,660. When the state commissioner of education intervened in the operation of Hope more than three years ago, the school was divided into three academies, each with an academic theme. The principals, Wayne Montague, Arthur Petrosinelli and Scott Sutherland, were asked to reconstitute the school, hiring about 50 new staff, developing personal learning plans for every student, instituting student advisories and developing meaningful partnerships with local businesses and universities.

To compensate principals for their additional responsibilities, the state Department of Education awarded $14,500 to each leader, Dunham said. In addition, Montague and Petrosinelli earn more money because they have doctorates.

The Journal’s analysis focused on the gross pay of municipal employees, which is the pre-tax amount. It includes base salary plus a number of extras, such as overtime, stipends and severance packages.

Kyle B. Davie, the former senior director of information services, was paid the next-highest salary at $125,175. Davie, who resigned last June, was responsible for the School Department’s information technology operations. The national mean salary of a technology director is about $81,800, according to the Association of School Administrators.

Dunham, the chief financial officer, was paid $125,070. In the School Department’s organizational chart, Dunham is one of four supervisors who answer directly to Evans.

Thomas E. Ramirez, the assistant superintendent of human resources, earned $124,439.

At $118,587, former Mount Pleasant High School Principal Maureen Crisafulli rounded out the top 10 highest-paid school employees. In addition to her regular salary, Crisafulli, who retired last August, received $2,000 for being a mentor principal, $2,600 for not taking sick leave, $1,571 for running a federally funded program at her school and $1,000 because of the size of her high school.

Compiled by Paul Edward Parker

THE PROVIDENCE JOURNAL

Source: Providence School Dept.

lborg@projo.com