Fort Wayne – The list of top-paid public school employees in Allen County has some new faces this year, largely because of changes in leadership.

Fort Wayne Community Schools Superintendent Wendy Robinson still tops the list, earning $195,086 in 2010.

As in the past, her earnings make her the highest-paid employee who works for a local unit of government – topping both Memorial Coliseum General Manager Randy Brown, who earns $146,063 and Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry, who earns $124,665. Robinson, who oversees a district of 31,549 students and about 4,000 employees, had a base salary of $174,000 and received $20,000 in annuity.

Typically, heading the list are superintendents in FWCS, East Allen County Schools, Southwest Allen County Schools and Northwest Allen County Schools, with FWCS and EACS earning the most.

But superintendent changes have altered the pay hierarchy in recent years, with the East Allen superintendent – who leads a district with 10,158 students – earning less than her counterparts at Southwest Allen and Northwest Allen, which have fewer students than EACS.

The Journal Gazette generated its top 10 list by acquiring salary information through public-records requests from all public school districts, including charter schools, in Allen County, then comparing the salaries.

The superintendents’ earnings include their base salaries, payments into their retirement accounts, car allowances and other perks.

Northwest Allen Superintendent Chris Himsel didn’t make the list this year because he joined the district in July 2010, earning $69,242 for roughly the last half of the year.

According to his contract, he is set to earn $155,000 a year, including base salary and an annuity.

New to the list is East Allen Superintendent Karyle Green, who joined the district in July 2009.

Her total compensation in 2010 was $152,258, which includes a $900-a-month car allowance and payments into a retirement account.

Chris Hissong, East Allen executive director for school management, who earned $112,425, is also new to the list. The former Heritage Junior-Senior High School principal assumed his new position last fall.

Another new name is Jim Coplen, Southwest Allen business manager, who earned $109,394 in 2010.

Coplen earned just $1,000 more than former Wayne Principal Thomas Smith, bumping him off the list. Smith was moved from his position at Wayne High School this winter and reassigned to another position within the district. FWCS officials will not discuss his placement.

This winter, the board approved his retirement at the end of the year.

More scrutiny

Salaries of the top earners at public schools are under additional scrutiny these days as districts freeze and reduce teachers’ pay, trim staff and make other budget cuts.

To address budget crunches, all Allen County school districts, with the exception of Southwest Allen, have instituted some kind of pay freeze or cut for principals, central office staff and other administrators.

The Fort Wayne Community Schools board, for example, decided to freeze administrators’ pay for the 2010-11 school year.

In East Allen, there hasn’t been a cost-of-living increase for administrators since the 2008-09 school year.

At Northwest Allen, administrators had no step increases in the 2010-11 school year and took a 3 percent pay cut.

“With the decline in revenues, all groups have been asked to make sacrifices,” Northwest Allen board President Ron Felger said.

Dan Domenech, executive director of the American Association of School Administrators, said administrators across the country are taking pay freezes and pay cuts as a result of tight school district budgets.

“It’s simply a sign of the times,” he said. “And it’s not going to change anytime soon. It’s going to be tough for another two years before we begin to see a swing back to a pay increase, and even then, it’s questionable whether it will be a return to the good ol’ days.”

dhaynie@jg.net