LANSING, Mich. — For the past five years, Lewton Global Studies Principal Richard Gutierrez has made it his mission to greet students daily.
“I pride myself in being in every classroom, every day, and the kids just know,” he said. “I may engage with them, help instruct them, and sometimes we may just have a mental check in.”
While juggling an unpredictable schedule filled with administrative work, Gutierrez also serves as vice president of the district’s administrator’s union, and recently, the union negotiated a new contract for principals.
“We came up with a fair compensation package that will not just help retain staff, but also bring in more staff in the future,” Gutierrez said.
The new five-year contract guarantees that each principal in the district will be making a minimum of $100,000 a year.
“We started out just looking at the data and what administrators in other surrounding areas are making like Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo, and then we just presented the data,” Gutierrez said.
From there, the district's Board of Education unanimously supported the union’s request.
Elementary school principals were making almost $88,000 a year, now they will be making $100,000 under the new contract. Middle school principals were making almost $94,000, and their salaries were bumped up to just over $104,000. High school principals were making $100,000, and now, they’ll be making just over $108,000.
"I just applaud the board, and I applaud our executive for working together to get this passed,” Gutierrez said.
