FREMONT, Calif. – In December of 2016, hundreds of teachers gathered at a Fremont school board meeting to demand a raise.

The school board and teachers union had been negotiating for months and had not come to terms on a new contract.

MORE NEWS: Know These Before Moving From Cyprus To The UK

The teachers complained that it was tough to live in pricey Silicon Valley with their current salary structure, according to a story published by EastBayTimes.com. They said that younger teachers tend to leave the district after a few years, to find districts that pay a higher wage.

District superintendent Kim Wallace urged patience, claiming that Fremont was facing a difficult financial situation, and had to be careful about investing more money in its payroll.

In a prepared statement, Wallace said the school district was facing a $4.5 million budget deficit for the 2018-19 school year, and “another $1.9 million on top of that the following year, and needs to make sure that we’re able to find responsible ways to balance the budget while also increasing compensation,” according to EastBayTimes.com.

The teachers might have been skeptical about the district’s plea of poverty if they had a chance to view Fremont’s administrative payroll.

In fiscal 2015-16, 144 Fremont school administrators were paid a total of $19,830,996.13 in base salary, for an average of $137,715.25 per employee.

They also received a total of $3,785,544.32 in benefits, for an average of $26,288.50 per employee

MORE NEWS: How to prepare for face-to-face classes

That means the school district paid a grand total of $23,616,540.40 to just 144 employees for one year. Their average compensation, with everything added up, came to $164,003.75.

The biggest money went to former Superintendent James Morris, who retired at the end of the 2016-17 school year. He made a base salary of $315,000.08 and received benefits worth $52,581.94, for a massive compensation package of $367,582.02.

Associate Superintendent Raul Parungao received $217,300.07 in base salary and $47,650.16 in benefits, for a total of  $264,950.23.

Director of Special Education Karen Russell received $208,920.84 in base salary and $36,327.65 in benefits, for a total of $245,248.49.

Director of Student Support Services Gregory Bailey received $203,735.88 in base salary and $35,337.63 in benefits, for a total of $239,073.51.

Rounding out the top five was Elementary Director Debra Amundson, who made a base salary of $195,588.68 and received benefits worth $33,923.64, for a grand total of $229,512.32.

While the big shots at the top obviously raked in the bucks, the other 139 administrators had nothing to complain about. All but 19 of them made at least $100,000 in base salary.