The St. Louis Post-Dispatch released an online database feature for readers to search through the salaries of all public education employees in Missouri.

The feature shows the five top administrators of the Parkway School District earn more than the Rockwood School District’s top five, with the exception of their district superintendents.

Rockwood’s top five paid administrators:

• Bruce Borchers, superintendent: $230,000
• Dennis Griffith, assistant superintendent: $138,100
• Randal Smasal, associate superintendent of learning: $138,000 [who left Rockwood this summer for an administrator position in Minnesota, as reported by Eureka-Wildwood Patch]
• Kelvin McMillin, assistant superintendent for human resources: $131,823
• James Wipke, executive director of secondary education: $125,150

Parkway’s top five paid administrators:

• Keith Marty, superintendent: $220,000.
• Bonnie Maxey, assistant superintendent (Retired in May 2012—38 years with the district): $167,530
• Gary Mazzola, Parkway South’s principal (Retired—31 years in the district): $150,140
• Kathy Blackmore, assistant superintendent for teaching, learning and accountability (retired in May 2012): $149,151
• Jennifer Marquart, Parkway North principal: $143,456

NOTE: Both Keith Marty and Bruce Borchers received raises effective July 1 with the 2012-13 school year. Marty's salary is now $227,000. Borchers is $234,600, with a 2 percent increase he received effective with this school year.

Smasal's duties were replaced with Karen Kieffer, executive director of Learning & Support Services; she is reported in the Post-Dispatch feature as earning $116,525 in her former position as principal of Wild Horse Elementary within the Rockwood District. 

Blackmore was replaced with Lisa Merideth, who is reported earning $105,673 as a central office administrator on the database. Parkway South's current principal is Patrice Aitch, who is reported as earning $114,819.

Searching for Borchers' other direct reports in this database revealed:

• Kim Cranston, chief communications officer, $121,406
• Tim Rooney, (new as of this summer) chief financial and legal officer, no records found; and his precedessor Shirley Broz also did not show in these online records
• Steve Beatty, chief information officer, no records found
• Will Blaylock, director of technology, no records found
• Karen Hargadine, executive director of PreK–Elementary Education, $125,000

Many comments in the Post-Dispatch’s website showed anger at the Post’s releasing of the numbers, which nonetheless are of public record.

Tell us in our comments: What do you think of your top administrators' salaries? Do you think these figures should have been released?