Tuition seem high?? Curious of the Salary of the Head of Your School? Do your research. Here is how.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How can you view 2023 filings? I'm only seeing 2022 for our school.

Former nonprofit person here. Form 990 must be filed on the 15th five months after the organization’s tax year ends. I don’t know if schools operate on the calendar year for tax purposes (which would make the date May 15th), or on a fiscal year that aligns with the school (ending in June or July possibly, as an example, and moving the due date to Nov or Dec). Even if the forms are due mid-May, it could take longer for the forms to be posted publically. My guess is the 2023 forms aren’t available yet. But I’m not an expert on 990 or taxes and have no school experience, just experience with 990 filing for an unrelated nonprofit. This is “informed speculation” on my part.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A head of school has how many hundred people under them and how many millions under their direction? Seems reasonable to me.

And they are in charge of fund raising and have decision power on the direction of the school on most matters (where the board doesn't step in).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A head of school has how many hundred people under them and how many millions under their direction? Seems reasonable to me.

And they are in charge of fund raising and have decision power on the direction of the school on most matters (where the board doesn't step in).

Not to mention (if good) attending so many school related events outside of the regular school day. Their hours are long and need to be available to put out fires 24/7.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find none of this to be a problem?

I can’t believe an assistant head of school is only being paid 130

The issue is the discrepancy between HOS pay and teacher pay, especially when the teachers do the most important work in the school.

A school can survive without a ton of admin. It can’t survive without teachers.

I think you are underestimating what it takes to run a school. And that someone has to be in charge of hiring high quality teachers, creating an environment in which they will want to stay, and leading the way on what is covered in the classroom.

[Anonymous]

I have a friend who’s a head of school in a major metropolitan. He’s well compensated and it’s an extremely demanding position. The breadth and depth of knowledge and skill sets needed to do his job are stunning. Education/finance/law/Politics/HR/PR/Fundraising/advertising/management/etc. It’s a great job for a person that can handle it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find none of this to be a problem?

I can’t believe an assistant head of school is only being paid 130

The issue is the discrepancy between HOS pay and teacher pay, especially when the teachers do the most important work in the school.


A school can survive without a ton of admin. It can’t survive without teachers.

I think you are underestimating what it takes to run a school. And that someone has to be in charge of hiring high quality teachers, creating an environment in which they will want to stay, and leading the way on what is covered in the classroom.

I would say people’s rub is it seems like a large part of steadily climbing tuition is going to the HOS. Meanwhile the Fairfax County Superintendent makes about $380k while overseeing 199 schools and centers from pre-K through12, student population of about 183,000 (including multiple languages and special needs, and economically disadvantaged students). Not to mention 25,175 full-time employees and a budget of $3.5 billion. Heck a HS principal makes only about $200k,at the very top end, and some of them have more students and staff than a private school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A head of school has how many hundred people under them and how many millions under their direction? Seems reasonable to me.

And they are in charge of fund raising and have decision power on the direction of the school on most matters (where the board doesn't step in).

This.

And, the head of school gets blamed for EVERYTHING. They take the hits, because everything rests at their feet. There is so much going on outside of the classroom; parents have the privilege of never needing to know about it, because the HoS, board, and admin team handle it.

The job is extremely demanding. There is no down time, no real days off. And to do it well is challenging.

Setting aside running the actual school, managing teachers/directors/admin staff handling discipline issues where they escalate to that level—the HoS must:

- network to help with student placement
- network to attract excellent employees
- stay abreast of market trends to attract families in an increasingly competitive environment
- keep up with educational trends
- serve on boards of other independent schools
- field calls from angry parents who often don’t have all the facts
- make hard decisions, every day

It’s an extraordinarily difficult job. It deserves significant compensation.

And though it’s hard to believe, every school has a significant gap between expenses to educate our children and what we pay in tuition. The economics of independent schools is extremely difficult. No one wants higher tuition, but we all want the benefits of extraordinary teachers, state of the art facilities and tech labs, etc. It’s just damn expensive, and none of us is paying what it actually costs.

[Anonymous]

No. Nothing is high. I know the market here and other major cities. I also know the job spec and the info is the same.

Nothing alarming.

I guess if you don’t understand basic economics, human capital earnings functions, and leadership jobs then a lot of life is alarming to you. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a friend who’s a head of school in a major metropolitan. He’s well compensated and it’s an extremely demanding position. The breadth and depth of knowledge and skill sets needed to do his job are stunning. Education/finance/law/Politics/HR/PR/Fundraising/advertising/management/etc. It’s a great job for a person that can handle it.

Yes as are most real C level jobs.
Your butt is on the line and you have many stakeholders to keep happy and moving forward.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For the huge (maybe to some not so huge) tuition checks you are writing for your childrens' education, google the "990 IRS Form" for the school your child attends. (Propublica is one of the many sites where you can find the information.)For a lot of the Greater Washington DC Private schools, that legally are not for profit, generate huge revenues and they have to file the very public 990 Form. One of the major Alexandria "Not-For-Profit" schools that charges close to $40K per year is paying their headmaster, with Salary + Benefits/Bonus near $380,000 per year. The next highest is the assistant head of school who makes, by comparison, a paltry $134,000. These two people don't even step into the classrooms and take up a huge chunk of the school's salary and benefits expenditures.

For some of religious based schools, such as St. Stephen & St. Agnes, their income and expenses flow south to Richmond, as they are actually a business owned by the Episcopal Church of Virginia (along with a handful of other schools across the state-all of whom charge very high fees) and their numbers are buried within the church's financial reports. They don't have to file 990 forms. The schools owned by the church create "income" that helps finance other activities of the Church.

Know where the money flows so you can make informed decisions.

You seem ignorant Op.

And if you were ignorant and a fast learner you wouldn’t post nonsense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bullis HoS makes 600k. And gets a house and car.

Two years ago he was making close to $700 plus house and car.

Not worth it, IMO!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find none of this to be a problem?

I can’t believe an assistant head of school is only being paid 130

The issue is the discrepancy between HOS pay and teacher pay, especially when the teachers do the most important work in the school.


A school can survive without a ton of admin. It can’t survive without teachers.

I think you are underestimating what it takes to run a school. And that someone has to be in charge of hiring high quality teachers, creating an environment in which they will want to stay, and leading the way on what is covered in the classroom.

I would say people’s rub is it seems like a large part of steadily climbing tuition is going to the HOS. Meanwhile the Fairfax County Superintendent makes about $380k while overseeing 199 schools and centers from pre-K through12, student population of about 183,000 (including multiple languages and special needs, and economically disadvantaged students). Not to mention 25,175 full-time employees and a budget of $3.5 billion. Heck a HS principal makes only about $200k,at the very top end, and some of them have more students and staff than a private school.

The obvious solution would be to send your kids to FCPS, no?

[Anonymous]

Yes we know Op. We know the business model.

I’d rather lobby for a voucher system for schools instead of attempt to attack private sector compensation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How can you view 2023 filings? I'm only seeing 2022 for our school.

Look at propublica or there are other competing websites that offer the same information. Your school may have filed late and it hasn't populated on the web yet. Or they may have not yet filed for some reason.

(You know how people can always file their taxes late-without extensions your pay penalties-but you 'can' do it.)

[Anonymous]

do schools have June fiscal yearends like most nonprofits, endowments, and foundations do? THen look 90+ days after that.