Weeks before he leaves for Washington, D.C., Superintendent Lewis Ferebee is expected to get a retroactive raise and $26,999 in performance pay from Indianapolis Public Schools.
That will bring his total annual compensation to nearly $300,000 — including contributions to his retirement savings and a stipend for a car, on top of the benefits other district administrators receive.
The board is expected to vote Thursday on a resolution to give additional pay to Ferebee, who is leaving Indianapolis Public Schools January 4, 2019, after five years, to become the next chancellor of the public school system in the nation’s capital.
The board is also expected to vote on a contract with interim-superintendent Aleesia Johnson, who will take over Jan. 7, 2019. Johnson, who is currently deputy superintendent of academics, will be paid a salary of $222,380 per year. If she is not hired as the next superintendent, Johnson will return to her current position.
Johnson may be an internal candidate to permanently replace Ferebee, but she has previously declined to say whether she will pursue the position.
Ferebee’s 5 percent raise, which his contract requires, is retroactive to July. It would amount to $10,729 over the course of the year, but he would not receive all of that money because he is departing halfway through the school year. It is based on the raises teachers will receive under a contract the board is also expected to approve.
Ferebee’s contract stipulates performance pay of up to $35,000. He will receive 77.14 percent of the maximum available funds, based on goals the superintendent and the board agreed to for last school year.
“The consensus of the board was, he had a really good year,” board president Michael O’Connor said. “It was a very, very positive review.”
O’Connor declined to provide the goals used to determine Ferebee’s performance pay because they are considered part of his personnel file. A spokeswoman for Ferebee’s administration did not respond to a request for the criteria.