Fallout from the arrest of a teacher at Monday night’s meeting of the Vermilion Parish School Board has led to inquiries into the salaries of various parish school superintendents.
The teacher, Deyshia Hargrave, had questioned the board’s decision that night to grant a $30,000-plus pay raise for Superintendent Jerome Puyau while teachers and suppport personnel in Vermilion Parish had not received a pay raise for 10 years.
A posting on a popular social media outlet Tuesday claimed that Acadia Parish Superintendent John E. Bourque’s annual salary is $237,490 — far higher than that of any superintendent in the Acadiana area, including Lafayette.
The information in that post is incorrect, according to Bourque.
According to his most recent contract with the school system, Bourque is paid an annual salary of $168,000, which represents a voluntary reduction in pay agreed upon in 2016 when the contract was approved.
According to Salary.com, the average annual school superintendent salary is $154,457 as of Jan. 2, with a range usually between $126,169 and $186,377 “varying widely depending on a variety of factors.”
Also missing from the social media posting is the fact that Bourque has served as superintendent of Acadia Parish public schools for 13 years, far longer than most of his peers in Acadiana and even in the state.
During Bourque’s tenure, salaries for teachers and support staff in the parish also have increased.
According to information provided by the school board, the starting annual pay for teachers has gone up from $26,839 to $40,579 (including supplements) — an increase of $13,740, or 51.2 percent — since Bourque has been superintendent.
Annual pay for support personnel in Acadia also has increased:
• School secretaries - from $12,488 to $18,293, an increase of $5,805, or 46.5 percent’
• Lunchroom workers - from $9,072 to $14,547, an increase of $5,475, or 60.4 percent; and
• Janitors - from $11,520 to $18,492, an increase of $6,972, or 60.5 percent.
