The 2025 school year was déjà vu all over again – nice pay increases for many administrators and persistently low student outcomes.
ACT college-readiness in English, Reading, Math, and Science set another low record, dropping from 32% in 2015 to just 17% in 2025.
Meanwhile, spending increased faster than inflation; it was around $19,000 per student in 2025, but it would only have been $14,769 if it had been increased for inflation since 2002.
Enrollment in 2025 was about 7% higher than it was 20 years ago, but school districts have 61% more managers, many of whom are highly paid.
The table below highlights some of the larger pay increases discovered in Open Records requests.
Retiring Blue Valley Superintendent Tonya Merrigan collected over $440,000 during the last school year, and the 19% increase likely includes a payout of unused leave. Two other managers – the CFO and the Chief Communications Officer – received double-digit compensation increases, and a long list of administrators got 8% boosts.
Four Garden City administrators got increases of at least 17%: Superintendent Mike Dominguez (22%), CFO Jessica Northern (22%), Principal Julie Koeperich (28%), and Chief HR Officer Michael Thon (17%).
The Kansas City, Kansas district has extremely low student outcomes, yet the school board awarded Superintendent Anna Stubblefield a 19% pay hike to more than $340,000. Three other executives also received double-digit increases: Deputy Superintendent Judith Campbell (11%), Chief Operating Officer Steve Lilly (14%), and Executive Director Kristen Scott (17%).
Payroll listings for the state’s largest school districts are available at KansasOpenGov.org. Total compensation includes salary, bonus, overtime, and other forms of compensation, but not benefits.
