Cobb County’s new superintendent Michael Hinojosa will earn a base salary of $237,000 and perks that exceed $28,000 annually, a pay cut for the Texas transplant but in line with what other metro Atlanta district chiefs earn.
On Sunday the school board approved Hinojosa’s contract amid a small group of protesters, following the 14-day waiting period mandated by state law. He will leave his job at the helm of the 158,000-student Dallas Independent School District to start July 1.
Hinojosa, who is expected to sign the contract this week, is currently one of the highest paid urban school superintendents in the country, with a base salary of $328,000. Hinojosa said he plans to offset the pay cut by tapping into his Texas pension benefits, worth more than $200,000 annually.
In Cobb, the state’s second-largest public school system and one of its top performers, he’ll get $800 a month for a car and reimbursement for fuel expenses. For six months, he’ll get up to $2,000 a month for temporary housing, and one trip to Texas per month paid for by the district. Moving expenses also are included in his contract, which extends to June 30 2013.
Hinojosa’s contributions into the state retirement fund, Social Security and Medicare will be paid by taxpayers, as well as his insurance premiums. In addition, an annual payment of about $19,000 — 8 percent of the superintendent’s salary — will be made into a tax-sheltered retirement plan.
Board chair Alison Bartlett said the contract is similar to that of retiring Superintendent Fred Sanderson, who earns $208,000 a year, plus perks.
“In the last set of interviews, we sent everyone Fred’s contract and said point blank, ‘Do you have a problem with this?’ ” Bartlett said of candidate negotiations.
Bartlett said the board agreed to give Hinojosa 10 one-time vacation days for use during his first month on the job. Hinojosa wanted to start in August, she said, but the board did not want to name an interim after Sanderson leaves this month. Hinojosa starts with 20 vacation days and can accrue up to 40 a year. He will be paid for unused vacation days, but not for any of his unused 45 sick days.
Hinojosa has been an educator in Texas for more than 30 years, starting as a teacher and coach in Dallas. He worked his way up the administrative chain and has been a superintendent since 1994. He recently signed a contract extension in Dallas, the nation’s 14th-largest district, but said he was swayed to move to Cobb County because his son lives in the area and is about to become a new dad.
Cobb County is home to some of the Georgia’s highest-achieving public schools. Walton High School in east Cobb was the Georgia school ranked the highest on Newsweek magazine’s national list of top high schools last year.
Hinojosa will earn slightly less than other area chiefs:
● Fulton County’s Robert Avossa, who started last week, will collect $238,000 a year for three years, an $800-a-month car allowance, moving expenses, a housing allowance for six months and about $40,000 in retirement benefits.
● J. Alvin Wilbanks, who heads the state’s largest district, Gwinnett County Public Schools, is one of the region’s highest earners with a salary of about $272,249, not including perks.
● DeKalb County Schools interim Superintendent Ramona Tyson earns $240,000 along with $2,000 a month for expenses and $500 a month for transportation.
Hinojosa’s exit has drawn mixed reaction in Dallas. Some trustees praised the outgoing superintendent for his success improving academics, while others felt betrayed by his sudden departure.
At Sunday’s school board meeting, a small group of vocal citizens made signs protesting the hiring, citing concerns about Hinojosa’s academic track record in Dallas, as well as his policies around grading students and recruiting bilingual teachers.
“Typically when you hire management or a coach, you don’t recruit someone from a lower-performing team,” said Michael Opitz, a father to three graduates of Cobb County Schools. “We have questions about why it seems they’re doing that in this case.”
Hinojosa was not at Sunday’s meeting. He was in Texas at his son’s graduation.
The Dallas Morning News contributed to this article.
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