According to school board candidate Richard Haring, there is outrage over Dr. Abram Lucabaugh’s salary raise (“Central Bucks superintendent’s $85K raise outraged voters,” Aug. 3).
Admittedly I raised eyebrows over the amount. But using terms like “outrage” seems to be the go-to verbiage of today’s vocabulary. Hyperbole perhaps?
I was impressed that another school board candidate, Aarati Martino, chose to take a more analytical approach to this controversy, and this reasonable and commonsense approach is to be applauded.
She reviewed the data. What a concept.
In this review, she noted that the salaries of superintendents at PA districts less than half the size of Central Bucks ranged from $270K to $295K. Dr. Lucabaugh came in at $225K, so obviously below the norm. He was low-balled from the get-go.
Salaries are determined by current market factors as well as merit. Hence the big boost. That his is the second highest superintendent salary in PA should be tempered by the fact that the highest is Philadelphia.
Personally, I have been impressed with Dr. Lucabaugh’s performance. He is laser-focused on educational excellence and student welfare and safety. It is worth noting that he reportedly received offers from other districts. Support staff has been given four future years of raises, as well as one retroactive year.
Taxpayer “outrage”? It might be prudent to realize the increasing property values are in large part reflective of an excellent school district.
I am only an old lady whose 10 out of 12 grandchildren are in or graduated from CBSD. When salaries are in dispute, I recall a former boss granting me a generous raise and his comment via his financial adviser was “When you get somebody good you let them know it, and they deserve more than lip service.”
Janice Visconto, Doylestown
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