The superintendent of Blue Earth Area School District will get a hefty pay raise of nearly $10,000 next school year.
On a 6-1 vote, School Board members approved a new three-year contract for Mandy Fletcher at their January meeting.
Board member Mark Franta cast the lone “no” vote because the board hasn’t been consistent in reviewing Fletcher’s job performance.
“When I asked how we as a board hold the superintendent accountable, the answer was through her yearly evaluations,” says Franta. “Well, last year we didn’t evaluate her at all. Based on this description, there was no accountability last year at all.”
The new contract has Fletcher receiving an annual salary of $153,000 for the 2025-26 school year, an increase from her current pay of $143,020.
The second year of the three-year deal calls for a $9,000 increase to $162,000 and $166,000 for the final year of the contract.
According to the Minnesota School Boards Association (MSBA), the school board chair should prepare a summary of the board’s conclusions regarding the superintendent’s evaluation.
“The summary must give enough information so that a reasonable person would know what occurred without disclosure of private data,” says the MSBA.
Fletcher received an “favorable” evaluation, says Franta, that was based on a 1 to 4 rubric point system; 1 being ineffective; 2, developing; 3, effective; and 4, highly effective.
Franta says the six-year superintendent was evaluated on three elements dealing with student engagement and feedback; facilities; and culture of cooperation.
He says that Fletcher gave examples of how she is supporting the three elements and board members used the input to evaluate her job performance.
“Some who have seen this system of evaluation describe it as a “good feel” rubric,” says Franta. “These are “canned” goals and rubrics provided by the MSBA. Do they appear meaningful and do they address items of major importance to the educational success of our students at Blue Earth Area?”
The MSBA says summary of a job performance review must summarize each specific, salient point of the evaluation and be more detailed than a statement that strengths and weaknesses or areas of growth were identified.
Fletcher’s contract also provides:
- an annual payment of $9,000 beginning July 1, 2027 if she attains a doctoral degree from an accredited university;
- district matching her contribution to a 403 (b) annuity up to $5,000;
- health and hospitalization insurance for her and dependents;
- 30 working days of annual paid vacation each contract year with unused allowed to accrue to a maximum of 60 days;
- term life insurance of $200,000;
- mileage reimbursement when using private vehicle for business use or conferences approved by the school board;
- payments for expenses, fees and meals while attending conferences, meetings and conventions approved by the School Board.