Hoover school board considers $20,000 raise, longevity incentive for Superintendent Kathy Murphy

Hoover school board members tonight recommended a contract extension and $20,000 raise for Superintendent Kathy Murphy, which would boost her annual salary to $218,900.

Board member Earl Cooper said Murphy has had exceptional performance in her three years in Hoover, and it’s important to provide her a compensation package that will encourage her to stay in Hoover.

Most people’s pay is tied to their performance evaluations, but Murphy’s contract has no provisions related to automatic or annual salary adjustments, even if she gets good evaluations, Cooper said.

He recommended the $20,000 raise and extending her contract from three years to five years, ending on June 30, 2023. Additionally, Cooper recommended the board offer her a $40,000 incentive payment if she stays as superintendent all five years.

If for some reason the board chose to end her contract early, he recommended the current two-year salary buyout remain in place.

Murphy recently applied for the state school superintendent job and, though she did not get the job, was one of the top three finalists for the position.

Cooper said it’s essential for Hoover schools to have strong long-term leadership to manage numerous ongoing initiatives, including the opening of the Riverchase Career Connection Center, implementation of the district’s new strategic plan, maintaining accreditation and seeking release from federal court supervision of integration efforts.

Also, several other key leaders in the district are expected to retire in the near future, he said.

Cooper said he has been through the process of finding a superintendent, and the superintendent market is tough.

“While there probably are many great potential superintendents out there … a proven track record and demonstrated institutional knowledge and mature leadership skills are really few and far between — very difficult to find,” Cooper said.

Cooper also recommended the board reduce her number of annual vacation days from 20 to 15. This actually could benefit her if she were not going to take that many vacation days anyway because vacation pay does not count toward her retirement. If she receives that money as salary instead of vacation pay, it would count toward her retirement, he said.

Finally, Cooper recommend the board also remove the requirement to evaluate the superintendent each year and replace that with language for a “periodic” evaluation.

Board member Craig Kelley said as Murphy was being considered for the state superintendent job, it became more clear to him that something needed to be done to keep Murphy in Hoover.

“We have the best in the state with us right now,” he said. “We can’t lose her.”

Also, it would cost a lot of money and time to have to find a new superintendent, Kelley said.

Cooper said Murphy did not request the raise and has never requested one since she has been in Hoover. The only raise she received was a 2 percent raise given by the state Legislature, he said.

Murphy said she felt awkward listening to the conversation about her contract but is extremely grateful for the kind things board members said about her. While she did apply for the state superintendent job, that is the only other superintendent job in the state for which she had an interest, she said.

“I am absolutely committed to Hoover City Schools,” she said.

She appreciates the offer of a contract extension, and “assuming God’s will and good health, I will honor that,” she said.

The board asked school board attorney Whit Colvin to draw up a contract per tonight’s recommendation and bring it to the board for a vote at its special May 23 meeting at 3:30 p.m. at the Farr Administration Building.

Drug testing

In other business tonight, Assistant Superintendent Tera Simmons shared with the board that 73 percent of the 1,787 high school parents who responded to a recent survey indicated they would like the school system to continue using $25 of each high school student’s parking fee to pay for random drug testing of those students with parking privileges.

School officials plan to continue that practice and also, in response to the survey, plan to increase the use of drug dogs on campus at Hoover High School in the next school year, Simmons said.

Of the 1,053 students tested last year, 12 tested positive for drug use, she said.