Fresno County’s highest-paid employee could be paid even more

Fresno County’s highest-paid employee, with a salary of more than $340,000, could be making more come 2023.

Salary negotiations are underway for the next Fresno County Superintendent of Schools Michele Cantwell-Copher, who takes office on Jan. 3.

Jim Yovino is the current Fresno County superintendent and has been since his 2013 appointment. He was elected a year later and re-elected in 2018. He is retiring this year.

Any time a new superintendent is elected, a compensation committee meets, gathers information on salaries and negotiates pay.

Because those talks and a proposed salary are not public yet and won’t be until at least the November board meeting, Cantwell-Copher says it is “not appropriate” to discuss until then.

A salary increase must be approved by the school board. Though the agendas are usually posted online the Friday before a meeting, according to board members, the agenda for the Oct. 20 meeting was not posted as of Oct. 14 at 5 pm.

Board President Kimberly Tapscott-Munson won’t be at the meeting for a personal matter but said there have already been concerns about Cantwell-Copher receiving the $300,000-plus when she takes office.

During the campaign, a constituent approached Tapscott-Munson saying the entry salary was “outrageous,” she said.

Cantwell-Copher: Process will be transparent

Some board trustees were appointed to be a part of the negotiations, according to Board Vice President Bryan Burton who is not on the compensation committee.

Those who were appointed will discuss the ongoing negotiations during the closed session portion of a board meeting. It’s unclear whether those negotiations will be discussed this coming Thursday since the agenda is not posted.

The Education Lab could not reach the remaining three board members.

The closed-session items are not discussed publicly. Whatever salary the committee, the board and superintendent-elect determines is what becomes public, Burton said, and that is what the board will vote on.

Cantwell-Copher said the matter will be public at the Nov. 15 meeting.

“As a publicly elected official, that is an open-session process,” she said. “We’ll be very transparent in that process, but not until then.”

Position is currently highest paid

The salary does not include things such as benefits. On top of the $340,773.00 annual salary Yovino earns, there is $55,042 in other pay and $60,574 in benefits, meaning pay and benefits equal $456,389, Transparent California reports.

The current base salary – before what’s deemed other pay – increased from $271,017 in 2019, which increased from $253,134 in 2018 when Yovino was re-elected.

The county’s top bureaucrat, County Administrative Officer Paul Nerland, makes $267,800.

Fresno Police Chief Paco Balderrama is the city’s top-paid official at $228,000.

Cantwell-Copher is assistant superintendent in charge of educational leadership and development for the superintendent’s office under Yovino. Her salary in 2021 was $175,364, according to Transparent California.

In June, she defeated two other educators by getting more than 64% of votes in the election for the county superintendent position.

The county superintendent’s office has 1,500 employees, a $359 million budget, and operates programs and services for 205,500 Fresno County students across 32 school districts. It’s the county superintendent who ensures districts are fiscally responsible and following state and federal laws.

Even with those responsibilities, the county superintendent has no say over the districts it oversees.

The Education Lab is a local journalism initiative that highlights education issues critical to the advancement of the San Joaquin Valley. It is funded by donors. Learn about The Bee’s Education Lab at its website.