We cannot afford to let this superintendent go

Vero News | By Ray McNulty | October 3, 2024

Just pay the man.

Better yet: Overpay him, if that’s what it takes to keep him here.

Do whatever is necessary to make sure David Moore – our shamefully underpaid, Most Valuable Player-level school superintendent – doesn’t leave because some other district made him a better offer.

That’s the message we need to send to our School Board members, so they can send a strong, unmistakable message to their peers throughout Florida and across America: Moore isn’t going anywhere.

And we need to do it now.

We don’t have time to haggle over money we can afford to spend, or worry about how paying him what he’s worth in today’s market might upset other district employees.

As Board Chair Teri Barenborg said at last week’s meeting: “There are several districts looking for superintendents. They are dangling the carrot. I know that. And the market is very, very tight for superintendents.”

In fact, Barenborg said when she attends Florida School Board Association gatherings around the state, she is constantly asked about Moore’s possible desire to “move up,” and there is at least one larger district looking to hire a new “super-duper” superintendent.

Board members from more than one district have been inquiring about Moore’s availability.

“So we are in that competition,” Barenborg said, “and we do need to hold on to a really good superintendent who has done a great job.”

Actually, Moore has done a near-miraculous job, given the disaster he inherited from his failed predecessor, Mark Rendell, who resigned in April 2019 to become a high school principal in Cocoa Beach and is now the superintendent in Brevard County, where his current salary exceeds Moore’s by more than $50,000 annually.

Since Moore was hired in November 2019, our public school system has undergone a spectacular transformation – from an underachieving, poorly run and financially mismanaged district to the envy of the state.

Not only has Moore’s leadership produced back-to-back “A” grades from the Florida Department of Education and lifted the district to a top-10 state ranking, but he also cleaned up Rendell’s financial mess and noticeably improved employee morale.

Deservedly, board members heaped praise on him during his annual performance review in August, when they publicly acknowledged the district’s progress in areas that included academic success, equity and culture, communication, work standards and integrity.

It wasn’t until August, however, that the board began discussing during the superintendent’s workshops a need to give Moore a significant raise.

Those conversations prompted board member Gene Posca, who recognized that Moore’s compensation package is “at the bottom in the state,” to propose – at the at the panel’s Sept. 24 meeting – giving the superintendent a 22-percent salary increase.

If approved, Moore’s salary would jump from $195,699 to $239,000, and his deferred-retirement compensation would double from 5 percent to 10 percent. The new terms would be retroactive to July 1, when his three-year contract automatically renews.

That increase, though, wouldn’t really be a reward for his stellar performance. It would merely increase his compensation to where it should be, paying him fair market value for a superintendent running a district of our size.

That’s how much the superintendent market in Florida has changed since Moore’s arrival from the massive Miami-Dade School District, where he was second-in-command.

When Moore signed his original contract here in 2019, he got the salary he wanted. He was paid the going rate. Nearly five years later, the price of hiring a superintendent has risen dramatically.

As it needed to.

Let’s face it: A flurry of wrongheaded, culture-driven new state laws has made the job considerably more challenging, so much so that only two of Florida’s 29 appointed superintendents in Florida have more seniority than Moore.

Then there’s the sharp rise in the state’s cost of living, particularly as it pertains to housing and insurance, and the expenses incurred in acquiring the higher education required for the position.

So while taking Moore to $239,000 per year and doubling his deferred retirement compensation might sound like a windfall – and probably would be sufficient to keep him here for the time being – it’s not enough for a superintendent of his caliber.

Even with the proposed raise, superintendents that Moore mentors or has mentored around the state will continue to make more money than he would.

One of those superintendents is Martin County’s Michael Maine, who was hired in April 2023 to run a similarly sized school system, and already has seen his annual salary increase from $235,000 to $241,000. His district received a “B” grade from the state.

Adding to Moore’s lofty stature among his peers is the fact that superintendents from other Florida districts have traveled to Vero Beach to observe how he and his staff operate.
We are now a model school district.

If we want to continue to be one – if we want to continue the positive momentum he has generated – we need to pay Moore more than fair market value. We need to pay him what he’s worth, which is more than $239,000 per year.

Yes, he and his wife like living here. But there are nice communities almost everywhere, and he’d be able to afford to live in them with the money he could make.

And not only as a superintendent.

Moore’s administrative skills and experience are not only desired in government; they’re in demand in the private sector, too. Surely, a man of his talents could make more than $239,000 annually in corporate America.

He’s only 52.

Fortunately, Moore has a passion for education, loves being a superintendent and wants to stay – which means we have a chance.

Let’s not botch it.

“I have faith that everything will happen the way it’s supposed to,” Moore said last week, declining to discuss the topic in detail.

That sounded ominous.

Which is understandable: Board members Jackie Rosario and Peggy Jones, while praising Moore’s work and saying he deserves a raise, weren’t exactly enthusiastic when discussing Posca’s proposal.

Certainly, their reluctance was puzzling – especially Jones’ tepid response, which seemed to surprise Moore, who had considered Jones a staunch supporter.

Both need to see the big picture.

Fact is, giving Moore a sizable salary increase that goes beyond fair market value at this time is a fiscally wise move. It would be far more costly to lose him, launch a search and replace him with someone who will want similar money.

Besides, three years from now, paying Moore $250,000 or more will seem like a bargain, considering all the nonsense he’s forced to confront on a regular basis.

For too much of his tenure, Moore has dealt with: the Moms For Liberty’s concocted culture-war distractions; a fiercely divided and sometimes-combative board; and Rosario repeatedly trying micromanage the district and do his job, often causing meetings to drag on much longer than necessary.

He has been highly visible around town. He has embraced the community. He has done everything we’ve asked of him, and then some.

More important, he has done the job here better than anyone who has occupied the superintendent’s office.

So just pay the man.

We can’t afford not to.