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The Albert Lea school board voted 4-2 Monday on an increase to Superintendent Ron Wagner’s salary as he moves into the third year of his contract with the district.

For the 2024-25 contract year, Wagner will receive $191,609, up from $185,130 in 2023-24 and $181,500 in 2022-23. 

Board members Angie Hoffman and Dave Klatt voted against the increase, while board members Neal Skaar, Gary Schindler, Bruce Olson and Kim Nelson voted in favor. Board member Davy Villarreal was absent. 

Board Chairwoman Kim Nelson referenced Wagner keeping the district within a 12% fund balance, increasing enrollment numbers for the upcoming school year and recent increases to salaries for other bargaining units within the district as reasons she supported the increase. 

Board member Gary Schindler said he also was in favor after looking at the districts of comparable size. He said the new salary seemed to be in line with those school districts. 

He also referenced things addressed under Wagner’s leadership, including site security, improved communication rolling out this year and strategic planning that was led in large part by the superintendent.

“I can think of a lot of reasons why we should approve a salary increase,” Schindler said. “Plus we’ve given every other bargaining unit in this district an increase in salary.”

Board member Neal Skaar said he has always believed in paying people as well as he can for the work they do and that as long as the district has the means, it should reward people who work for them “happily and as abundantly as you can.”

“I know you get what you pay for,” he said, noting how difficult it can be to catch up if you fall behind in salaries. 

Hoffman said in looking at the information the board members received from Human Resources Director Ashley Mattson, she calculated an average cost per student for the superintendent for the districts across the Big 9. 

The information listed Albert Lea’s superintendent salary as well as the salaries of other superintendents in the Big 9. Mattson also had salaries of the superintendents at other school districts in the state with a similar number for student enrollment. 

In the Big 9, salaries ranged from $155,000 in Winona, where there is an enrollment of 2,400 students, to $232,000 in Rochester, where there are 18,296 students. 

The following are the base salaries for the other Big 9 schools, as well as student enrollment:

• Mankato, 8,007 students, $212,936
• Northfield, 3,875 students, $191,263
• Owatonna, 5,150 students, $200,850
• Austin, 5,270 students, $194,250
• Red Wing, 2,350 students, $174,250

The Faribault superintendent, which oversees 3,050 students, was set to make $178,606 this school year, though that number could change because the district is in the middle of negotiations because of other changes in district administration structure and pay equity measures. 

Hoffman said in calculating the average cost per student, she took Rochester out of the equation which averaged out to $13 per student, and Albert Lea, since it had not yet been approved. 

The cost averaged out to $50 per student. 

Under the new salary for Wagner, the average cost per student equated to $60 per student. 

Hoffman said she struggled with this because the district recently had to make a significant amount of staffing cuts. 

For the other districts throughout the state with similar enrollment to Albert Lea, the districts that were given to the board had superintendent salaries ranging from $163,000 to $242,000. 

Some in that comparison included Worthington, with 3,300 students, at $198,000; Alexandria, with 3,890 students, at $196,000; Detroit Lakes, with 2,900 students, at $171,000; North Branch, with 3,000 students, at $194,410; and New Ulm, with 2,167 students, at $163,000. 

In explaining why he voted against the salary, school board member Dave Klatt said he voted no from the standpoint of fiduciary responsibility, noting that he was concerned with the numbers Hoffman presented and how the increase would equate to $60 per student — or $10 higher than the average in the Big 9 — especially as the board recently had to cut over a million dollars from its budget. 

He also reminded people that the vote was not a personal vote and was supposed to be more of a vote based on inflation because he said the board isn’t allowed to pay on performance. 

This is for the third year of Wagner’s contract.

In other action, Nelson read a statement about Wagner’s annual review, given by the board  July 15 in closed session. 

“Superintendent Wagner’s evaluation centered around student support, community support and communication,” she said. “The superintendent continues to develop in these areas with administrative and board support.”