Broward’s superintendent, district’s first woman leader, will get paid $350K a year
Vickie Cartwright, who was named superintendent of Broward County Public Schools two weeks ago after serving as interim for six months, will earn $350,000 per year, according to the contract approved Thursday by the Broward School Board.
“I’m very excited for this journey, as we continue to build upon the great things that happen here in our school district,” said Cartwright, 51. “I’m just very, very grateful.”
The School Board unanimously approved her employment agreement during an emergency meeting Thursday morning. On Feb. 9, the board voted 8-1 to name Cartwright as superintendent after a three-month national search, the first woman in the post in the district’s 107-year history.
Her contract begins Thursday and will run through Dec. 31, 2024, with the option to renew. Most members agreed a two- to three-year contract made sense for an incoming superintendent.
Broward County Public Schools is the nation’s sixth-largest school district with about 250,000 students and 331 schools.
Cartwright’s pay is lower than her predecessor’s. Robert Runcie, who resigned as superintendent following his grand jury perjury indictment in April, was paid an annual salary of $356,000. The School Board hired him in 2011 with a salary of $275,000. Runcie has pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Increase from her interim salary
Her new salary, however, is still a bump from what she made as interim, $275,000.
Ray and Associates, a company that specializes in educational recruitment hired by the county, studied districts in Florida and across the country, and advised that a $350,000 to $365,000 salary range would be competitive.
Jose Dotres, the newly named superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools, the largest district in Florida and the fourth-largest district in the nation, recently inked a two-year contract that would pay him $370,000 per year.
Board Member Rosalind Osgood asked Board Chair Laurie Rich Levinson, who negotiated the contract with Cartwright, whether Cartwright’s salary measured well against those of her male counterparts locally and elsewhere.
“I wouldn’t want to start out with our first female superintendent, and she’s getting paid differently than males,” Osgood said. “That’s a very sensitive issue.”
“It’s a fair salary — whether it’s a male or a female,” Rich Levinson said.
As part of the agreement, Cartwright will get 24 days of paid time off each year, on top of holidays and sick days. The board will pay 7 percent of her base salary to fund a tax-sheltered annuity for her retirement. She also gets medical, vision and dental insurance, as well as a car. She’s eligible for yearly salary raises.
This story was originally published February 24, 2022 at 2:46 PM.
