WYOMING, Delaware – For several years now, some elected officials and education experts in Delaware have been calling on the state to consolidate public school districts, lowering the number from 19 to five or fewer.

Back in 2009, the state’s auditor said such a plan could save the state, and the schools, as much as $50 million per year in redundant administrative salaries and benefits.

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He may have a point.

One example is the high cost of employing administrators in the Caesar Rodney school district.

In fiscal year 2016-17, 44 Caesar Rodney district administrators made a combined $4,742,411.96 in base salary alone, for an average of $107,782.09 per employee.

Thirty of those 44 employees made base salaries over $100,000 per year.

The 44 employees also received $2,253,179.38 in benefits, for an average of $51,208.62 per employee.

That brought the average total compensation per administrator to $158,990.71, and the total cost of employing the group to more than $6.9 million.

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At the top of the compensation scale was Superintendent Kevin Fitzgerald, who made $168,001 in base salary and $70,815.69 in benefits, for a total compensation package of $238,816.77.

Assistant Superintendent Michael Noel made $139,114.04 in base salary and $67,739.29 in benefits, for a total of $206,853.33.

Three directors and one administrative assistant made a combined $505,405.16 in base salary and $205,749.95 in benefits. Seven supervisors made a combined $748,053.10 in base salary and $376,157.86 in benefits.

The total cost for those 10 employees alone was more than $1.8 million. Add on the superintendent and assistant superintendent and the total increases to nearly $2.3 million.

Most of the 19 school districts in Delaware likely also spend a great deal on administrative salaries and benefits. Of course, some districts will have higher or lower administrative payrolls, based on their size.

But just to generalize, if you take the $2.3 million spent to employ just the top 12 officials in the Caesar Rodney district and multiply it by 19 (the number of districts in the state), it comes to more than $43 million.

So the state auditor – who said there could be savings as high as $50 million – was obviously on to something.

School district consolidation could be a very good idea for Delaware.