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The Mountain View Whisman school board voted earlier this month to extend Superintendent Ayindé Rudolph’s contract for three more years, with raises that will put his salary at roughly $383,000 next school year.
At a Thursday, June 13, meeting, the school board voted 4-1 to approve the contract amendment. Chris Chiang opposed the contract, but did not explain his decision.
Originally hired in 2015, Rudolph’s most recent agreement was set to expire June 30, 2025. The new one will expire June 30, 2028.
The agreement calls for Rudolph to receive a 5% raise next school year, followed by another 5% increase in the 2025-26 school year and 4% in 2026-27. That matches the raises that teachers got as part of a union contract approved last month.
On top of that, Rudolph will receive another 3% bump each year as a “step increment,” which is a term typically used to describe the automatic pay increases teachers and other school staff receive as they stay longer in a district.
All told, Rudolph’s salary will increase from $354,643 this past school year to $383,122 next school year, according to district officials. That includes a flat $5,200 annual stipend that Rudolph gets for having a masters and doctorate, which matches what teachers receive.
The 5% raise in the 2025-26 school year and 4% raise in the 2026-27 year are subject to Rudolph receiving satisfactory performance evaluations, according to the contract.
The agreement also stipulates that if voters don’t approve a parcel tax on the ballot this November, then the board and superintendent “agree to reopen” his salary for the 2025-26 and 2026-27 school years. The teachers’ union contract also included language about the parcel tax, which permits the district to reopen salary discussions if it doesn’t pass.
Beyond the raises, the agreement also includes a “substitution of collateral” section that provides for the superintendent to be able to buy a new home and carry over his district-backed loan, subject to certain conditions. In 2020, the school board voted to approve offering Rudolph a $1.2 million low-interest loan to buy a home, despite opposition from some community members.
Public pushes back on contract approval
Seven members of the public addressed the school board about Rudolph’s contract during the June 13 meeting. With only one exception, the commenters all raised concerns about approving the agreement.
The speakers brought up objections to the size of the raises, the length of the extensions, controversies under Rudolph’s tenure and the fact that a school board election is coming up in November.
“Don’t approve this amendment and wait until the new board comes in,” one speaker said. “Let them decide for the next three years.”
“The annual increase of 8%, 8%, 7% feels very rich, above market and inappropriate,” another speaker said. “Particularly, as others have pointed out, (because) I’m not sure that this has really been the superintendent’s best year.”
Board member Laura Blakely said that the district’s practice has been to do four-year contracts and that the pay increases are meant to match what other staff receive.
At the June 13 meeting, the board also approved contract extensions for three other top district administrators: Chief Academic Officer Cathy Baur, Chief Business Officer Rebecca Westover and Chief Human Relations Officer Tara Vikjord.
Extra $30 grand, after taxes is $15k, so an extra $288 a week. Not exactly lottery money.
Extra $30 grand, after taxes is $15k, so an extra $288 a week. Not exactly lottery money.
A lottery win is once in a lifetime, not every week.
Your missing the point. 8% is extremely rich, his total pay and benefits was $445,000 in 2022 and will now be over 500K.
Also, keep in mind the Whisman School District pays over $10.4 million in pay & benefits (2022 Transparent California Website) before even reaching the highest pay teacher. Now that $900K increase (8%) is lottery money and none of it goes to any teacher. Its ridiculous how many Chief Officers (5 in 2022), Directors, Principals, and Vice Principals there are, making it really top heavy; even the executive assistant for the Superintendent is at $250K total pay and benefits. Keep in mind this is only for grades K – 8th grade, really quite ridiculous.
That 8% is more than double the pay increases in the private industry now, unless you change jobs, but then you permanently lose any out of money/non-vested options you may have. Just more incentive for parcel tax vote to fail, seems like the decision makers really have no interest in listening to the taxpayers. At least this time they are honest about where the money for the increased taxes will go.