I wonder if Waynesboro taxpayers know that they are paying the guy who manages the $65.7 million school budget more than they pay the guy who manages the $167.5 million budget that runs the entire city government?
I was today years old when I found this out.
By an accident of journalism.
I submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to Waynesboro Public Schools to get a copy of the employment contract for Jeffrey Cassell, who is set to retire as the superintendent of schools on Dec. 31.
What I was looking for: information on whether the contract would entitle Cassell to any kind of additional payout, given that he had just signed an extension on Oct. 15, 2024, that was to run through June 30, 2029.
Sometimes you see a golden parachute hidden in the details.
The answer with the Cassell contract: no.
Per the details of the contract:
In the event the Superintendent voluntarily resigns, all salary and benefits shall cease as of the official date of such resignation.
That’s under Section XI, Voluntary Resignation.
It was Section III, Compensation, that got my eyes to open wide.
The annual salary of the Superintendent, for the period starting July 1, 2025, and ending June 30, 2029, shall be $200,000.00 (Two Hundred Thousand Dollars), plus the degree supplement of $5,150.00 (Five Thousand One Hundred Fifty Dollars) for his doctorate degree.
And then, on top of that:
In all years in which the Board approves raises for Board employees, the annual salary of the Superintendent also shall increase each year in the same percent the Board approves raises for other Board employees, without the need for any amendment hereto. If the Board approves such an increase for Fiscal Year 2026, the Superintendent shall also be entitled to such an increase for fiscal year 2026 as calculated based on the Superintendent’s annual salary (plus supplement) as provided for in this section.
To that point, the Waynesboro School Board approved 3 percent raises for the 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 fiscal years, so, that would mean a raise for Cassell in the 2025-2026 fiscal year of $6,154.50, and a raise for the current fiscal year of an additional $6,339.14.
So, grand total, for what we were going to be paying Cassell for the current fiscal year: $217,643.64.
I reached out to the city government to get a figure for what we’re paying Mike Hamp, the city manager since 2008, and who was an assistant city manager before that dating back to the mid-1990s.
The answer: $199,850 for the current fiscal year.
The School Board is paying the superintendent 8.2 percent more than the City Council is paying the city manager.
Seems to me that maybe Mike Hamp needs to fire his agent.
Seriously, though, yes, it’s two separate elected governing bodies that make the calls on what to pay their respective top person.
But in effect, the school system is one of the many government services that we, as taxpayers, pay for – a big one, obviously, but a big one of many.
It feels to me like we’re paying the offensive coordinator more than we’re paying the head coach here.
We’re also overpaying relative to at least one of our peers: Staunton hired its superintendent, Eric Irizarry, last year at a base salary of $187,500 a year.
I’ve got a FOIA request in to Augusta County Public Schools to see what county taxpayers are paying their superintendent, Kelly Troxell, who started in that job on Jan. 1 of this year.
Also have quick questions in to the local governments in Staunton and the county to see what they’re paying the city manager and county administrator.
I want to try to be fair on this, but still, seems out of whack to me, what we’re doing in Waynesboro, paying the guy who runs the schools a decent amount more than we’re paying the guy who runs the entire city government.
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Chris Graham
