The Peoria Public School Board approved a two-percent salary bump for Superintendent GrenitaLathan. Peoria Public Radio’s Alex Rusciano reports the Board voted five to one for the pay increase:
Lathan’s base salary increases by 45-hundred-dollars to more than 207,000. Board member Rick Cloyd voted against the salary hike, citing a $5 million spending deficit last school year:
“This was not due to our increased spending, it was due to reductions in revenue from real estate taxes, less state funding, and reductions or termination of federal programs. I come from a long tradition of business that does nto support raises for highly-compensated senior executives when you operate at a deficit,” Cloyd says.
Cloyd says he would vote against the raise even without a deficit due to the damaged relationships between the District and the community. Board member Linda Butler says she supports the measure because the district improved overall despite tensions over a Charter Oak testing investigation:
“But we’ve also looked at our facilities, our technology, our professional development. All of those things that now have made this district better,” Butler says.
Other board members also acknowledged the strained community perception of the District, and voted for the increase. The Board also approved reducing the public speaking time at regular board meetings from five to three minutes.