Colleges aren’t the only Arkansas educational institutions with administrators whose salaries are public record. In addition to this week’s analysis of college administrator salaries, we also present a list of the highest paid public school district administrators.
The list includes 247 current-year superintendents of public school districts and a few charter schools, and it ranks them by the total compensation package — salary plus benefits — paid to the superintendent of that school district in the 2013-14 academic year. Current-year compensation is not yet available from the Arkansas Department of Education, which provided almost all of the information on the list, and in most cases the superintendent has not changed.
(Get the List: Click here to purchase the list of Arkansas superintendents.)
When Arkansas Business published a list of superintendents and their salaries last year, a number of readers asked for enrollment figures and for compensation per student. We have included that research on this year’s list, but compensation per student must be considered in context: Even very small districts or charter schools must hire qualified superintendents. The cost per student will be higher, but these smaller districts do not, as a rule, have multiple assistant superintendents who are also being paid sizable salaries.
The highest paid school superintendent in the state last year was Jimmy D. Rollins, longtime superintendent of the Springdale School District, the second-largest district in the state. His was one of three superintendent positions that cost, with benefits, more than $300,000 last school year and one of 16 that exceeded $200,000. Fourteen superintendent positions cost less than $100,000 in the 2013-14 school year.
Scott Sides, who heads the Arkansas Virtual Academy, is included on the list at No. 247 even though no salary information for him has been made public by K12 Inc., the publicly traded company based in Virginia that contracts to operate AVA and online schools in 32 other states.
Arkansas Business chose to include his name on the list because Arkansas Virtual Academy had 1,334 students last school year. Only 85 traditional school districts and eStem Public Charter Schools in Little Rock were larger in terms of enrollment.
Largest Public School Districts in Arkansas | |||
District | County | Enrollment | |
1. | Little Rock School District | Pulaski | 23,676 |
2. | Springdale School District | Washington | 20,542 |
3. | Pulaski County Special School District | Pulaski | 17,060 |
4. | Bentonville School District | Benton | 15,081 |
5. | Rogers School District | Benton | 14,757 |
6. | Fort Smith School District | Sebastian | 14,313 |
7. | Cabot School District | Lonoke | 10,172 |
8. | Conway School District | Faulkner | 9,733 |
9. | Fayetteville School District | Washington | 9,421 |
10. | Bryant School District | Saline | 8,862 |
Smallest Public School Districts in Arkansas | |||
District | County | Enrollment | |
1. | Hartford School District | Sebastian | 325 |
2. | Kirby School District | Pike | 346 |
3. | Hughes School District | St. Francis | 354 |
4. | Deer-Mount Judea School District | Newton | 359 |
5. | Nevada School District | Nevada | 362 |
6. | Mulberry School District | Crawford | 364 |
7. | Lead Hill School District | Boone | 375 |
8. | Hillcrest School District | Lawrence | 381 |
9. | Strong-Huttig School District | Union | 387 |
10. | Marvell-Elaine School District | Phillips | 402 |
Ranked by enrollment in 2013-14 academic year
Source: Arkansas Education Department. Public charter schools not included.