Photo by Staff file photo Linda Burgee, Superintendent of Frederick County Public Schools
	MORE COVERAGE Searchable Salary Database: Search the salaries for all part-time and full-time Frederick County Public Schools employees Frederick Watchdog: Your portal to access databases, special projects, investigative reports and more — — — 2005 contract for Linda Burgee Cash compensation: Base pay: $160,000 Lump-sum payment to an annuity: $40,000 Health, dental and vision insurance: $4,000 Annual raises: Minimum annual raise of 3.5 percent, plus a cost-of-living adjustment Annual bonus: Not to exceed 10 percent of base pay. Given by action of Board of Education by June 30 of each year. Vacation time: 25 days per year with no accrual limit. No provision for cashing out unused time. Sick time: 12 days per year with no accrual limit. Sixty percent of accrued time able to be cashed out at retirement or termination of contract. Life insurance: Policy worth two times the annual base pay paid in full by the school board. Vehicle: Option of a car provided by FCPS for FCPS-related business, or be reimbursed for business mileage on personal car. Professional memberships, conferences and other training: Board to pay membership fees to professional organizations and groups necessary to maintain and improve professional skills. Provide reasonable amount of release time to attend seminars, courses and meetings, and pay for related expenses, as approved in the budget. 2009 contract for Linda Burgee Cash compensation: Base pay: $201,811 Annuity: $40,000 Annual raises: Burgee to receive 3.5 percent incremental raise only when other FCPS employees receive the same raise. Cost-of-living increases granted at discretion of school board. At no time is Burgee to receive raises smaller than those granted to other FCPS employees. Annual bonus: No change Vacation time: 36 days per year (three per month). No accrual limit. Maximum of 36 unused days can be cashed out at the end of each contract year. All unused time can be cashed out at retirement or termination of contract, at the pay rate at the time of buyout. Sick time: Remains 12 days per year. No accrual limit. Maximum of 12 days can be cashed a out at the end of each contract year. All unused time can be cashed out at retirement or termination of contract, at the pay rate at the time of buyout. Life insurance: School board will pay up to $1,000 for life insurance in the amount of two times the superintendent's annual salary. Vehicle: Burgee will be provided with an FCPS-owned car for school system business. She is to reimburse FCPS for any personal use of the car, at the IRS-approved per-mile rate. Professional memberships, conferences and other training: No change

The Frederick County Board of Education approved the new contract, 6-0, at its regular meeting Feb. 25. School board member Donna Crook, who was at the meeting, stepped out of the room to take a phone call shortly before the vote.

Burgee, who heads a school system with more than 5,600 employees, nearly 40,000 students and a $500 million operating budget, will make a base salary of $201,811. She also gets a lump-sum payment of $40,000 deposited into a retirement annuity during the first quarter of each fiscal year, said Marita Loose, spokeswoman for the school system. That benefit was established in her first contract, created in 2005, and continues through the four years of the new agreement. The superintendent also remains an active member of the State Retirement and Pension System of Maryland and makes employee contributions to that fund.

A new clause allows the superintendent to cash in up to 36 unused vacation days and as many as 12 sick days at the end of each contract year. At $776.20 per day, cashing out the maximum number of days allowed would add $37,257.60 to Burgee's salary next year.

Burgee's original contract offered 25 vacation days (the contract uses the term "annual leave") and 12 sick days per year with no accrual limit. It offered no vacation time cash-out, and allowed the superintendent to cash in 60 percent of her sick time, but only upon retirement or termination of the contract.

Beginning July 1, Burgee will receive 36 vacation days a year. Sick days will remain at 12 per year, with no accrual limit for either.

The contract also allows for an annual performance bonus, not to exceed 10 percent of base pay, to be awarded at the discretion of the school board. The maximum for next year would be $20,181.

In the last three fiscal years, beginning with fiscal 2006, Burgee has received end-of-year bonuses of $13,120, $16,150 and $16,260, which represent awards of 8.2 percent, 9.12 percent and 8.5 percent of base salary, respectively. School board members have until June 30 to award a bonus for the current fiscal year.

Burgee's total fiscal 2010 salary could be $299,249 if she cashes out the allowed limit of vacation time and sick time, and gets awarded the maximum year-end bonus.

In addition to cash compensation, Burgee receives fully paid family health, dental and vision insurance coverage. The school board pays up to $1,000 a year for life insurance in the amount of twice Burgee's base salary. Her health insurance benefits will continue for life, according to the agreement, unless she is terminated for cause. If she dies before her husband, he will receive individual benefits for the rest of his life. When Burgee becomes eligible for Medicare, the board will provide only supplemental coverage. (Like other employees, Burgee pays a portion of the premium. In fiscal 2009, Burgee will pay $2,917.20 and the school system will pay $11,119.20 for medical coverage for Burgee and her husband.)

The contract also discusses the benefits Burgee would be eligible for if she accepts another job, within 90 days of leaving the school system, that offered health insurance benefits. She also has use of an FCPS car for business-related travel.

Fair pay for long hours

An October 2008 salary study released by the Maryland State Department of Education showed Burgee's base salary as the ninth-highest of Maryland's 24 jurisdictions. Statewide, superintendent base pay ranged from $125,000 (Kent County) to $278,250 (Baltimore County).

School board President Jean Smith said the board did a lot of research before offering its original contract. She believes Burgee is compensated fairly for the work she does.

Not many people are aware of the long hours Burgee puts in, Smith said, citing days that start early in the morning, end late at night and have no respect for weekends or holidays.

"I'm the only one on the board that's hired two superintendents," Smith said. "There aren't that many highly qualified people out there. We're lucky to have who we have -- and she's homegrown."

The board looked at Howard and Harford counties as examples, she said, because they most closely mirror Frederick County's size and demographics.

"We never look at Montgomery County, because we know there's no comparing the two systems," she said.

Regarding her salary, Burgee said in an e-mail that her negotiated pay falls "right between the compensation for the superintendents in Harford and Howard counties, which have similar-sized student enrollments."

According to the MSDE salary report of October 2008, Burgee makes nearly $11,000 less than her Harford counterpart and about $63,000 less than Howard's schools chief.

Over Burgee's first four-year term, her base salary increased 26.1 percent, from $160,000 to the current $201,811, for an annual average increase of 6.53 percent. The biggest jump was in the second year (2006-07), when her pay rose 10.7 percent to $177,120.

In addition to increased vacation time and the ability to cash out unused time, other significant differences exist in the new contract. In the 2005 contract, the board agreed to annually increase the superintendent's salary by a minimum of 3.5 percent plus a cost-of-living increase. The new contract ties her raises to those of other FCPS employees -- Burgee will get incremental raises only when school system staff do.

The old contract included $4,000 per year to pay for health, dental and vision insurance plans. The new contract states that the superintendent will receive "paid family health, dental and vision insurance from the Board-approved insurance plan."

Wording about the use of a car also changed. The first agreement gave Burgee the option of using an FCPS car for business, or being reimbursed for business use of her personal car. The new contract states, "The superintendent shall be provided a car by FCPS for FCPS-related business use." Burgee agrees to reimburse the school system for any personal use of the car according to the IRS standard mileage rate.

An added clause in the new contract gives the board the right to terminate Burgee without cause with a 90-day notice. If they were to act on that, board members would be obligated to give Burgee the pay and benefits due her for the remainder of the contract period.

In an e-mail to The News-Post, she noted "tremendous progress" toward eliminating the achievement gap and said total elimination remains the goal. Increasing student achievement, particularly in the areas of advanced performance, remains a priority, she wrote.

Smith said the school system has the person it needs to lead it into the next decade.

"Superintendents tend to move on, and we're lucky that she's chosen to stay here, that she wants to be here," Smith said. "And she's very measurably done a great job."