Despite having an enrollment of about 3,000 students, the superintendent of La Vega Independent School District is the highest paid in McLennan County and the Central Texas region where we watch.
TEMPLE, Texas — The Texas Education Agency (TEA) recently released data on public school superintendent salaries for the 2023-2024 school year, and it turns out the highest-paid people in Central Texas aren’t always in charge of the school districts with the most students.
According to the Texas School Boards Association, student population, staff size, geography and experience are all factors in the salary that school boards offer superintendent candidates. But one district in Central Texas where there are discrepancies is McLennan and Bell.
In McLennan County, for example, La Vega Independent School District Superintendent Sharon M. Shields’ salary is $306,264, excluding benefits and allowances, according to the data. The district serves 3,120 students, about 10,000 fewer than the county’s second-highest paid superintendent, Dr. Susan Kincannon, who earned a base salary of $284,673 in the 2023-24 school year.
China Spring ISD is one of several districts in McLennan County with similar disparities: Districts like Robinson ISD and Connelly ISD offer higher superintendent salaries, so China Spring ISD Superintendent Dr. Mark Faulkner’s salary is higher than Robinson ISD and Connelly ISD’s, but the district’s superintendent’s salary is about $25,000 to $1,000 lower.
In Bell County, the situation is a little different, with Temple Independent School District being the exception. Generally, Bell County superintendents are paid based on the number of students enrolled in their district, but Dr. Bobby Ott of Temple Independent School District is an exception.
Killeen Independent School District has the most students, about 43,900, and Dr. Joan Fahy has the highest salary in the county at $325,000. Ott of Temple Independent School District is second at $280,000, but with 8,784 students, it’s about 35,000 fewer than Killeen and more than 5,000 fewer than Belton Independent School District. Dr. Matthew Smith earns $254,892 a year, according to TEA data.
RELATED: Killeen Independent School District superintendent says budget will be cut by 20 percent, other schools will follow suit to close multimillion-dollar deficit.
One of the Central Texas districts investigated for the 2023-2024 school year was Marin Independent School District, which serves about 1,000 students and whose superintendent, Dr. Daryl Henson, was paid $235,000 a year.
RELATED: Exclusive: Marin Independent School District speaks to 6News about allegations of unfair grade alterations
Still, salaries in Falls County, and other small Central Texas counties, appear to generally decline with the number of students enrolled in the district, as shown below.
If you would like to see which school superintendents in Texas are the highest paid, click here.
