UTICA, Mich. – In June 2017, the Utica Community School district announced that it would be giving layoff notices to 47 classroom teachers, due to a decrease in revenue from federal and state government sources, according to a report in the Detroit Free Press.

Parents in the district must not be thrilled with the news, because teacher layoffs mean larger classrooms and less individual attention for students.

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Are there other areas where money could be saved in the Utica district to make teacher layoffs less likely in challenging financial times?

The district’s administrative payroll might have been one place to look.

In the 2016-17 academic year,  92 administrators were paid a total of $9,783,344 in base salary. That breaks down to an average salary of $106,340. Of that group, 63 made base salaries of at least $100,000.

The average teacher salary in the Utica district is $54,356, according to TeacherSalaryInfo.com.

The school district also spent a lot on benefits for those administrators. That included $3,774,864 in pension contributions, which breaks down to an average of $41,031 per administrator, and $1,125,473 in health insurance, which breaks down to an average of $14,246 for 79 affected administrators.

So the average total compensation per administrator – with salary, pension and health insurance included –  was $161, 617.

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Some of the administrative compensation packages went far beyond the average.

The superintendent cost the Utica district at least $280,217. The combined total for the assistant superintendent for business and auxiliary services was $236,381. The combined total for the assistant superintendent for curriculum was  $221,687

The next time the Utica school board discusses the possibility of laying off classroom teachers, perhaps parents and other taxpayers should ask if the district’s administration is as streamlined as possible, and what types of spending could be cut to save as many teaching jobs as possible.