The Duval Schools administration building on Thursday, May 23, 2024. | Megan Mallicoat, Jacksonville Today
Published on June 6, 2024 at 9:49 pm
The Duval County School Board has sent a counter offer to incoming Superintendent Christopher Bernier.
The board offers Bernier a base pay of $280,000 per year and the opportunity for up to $20,000 in annual performance incentives. The counter offer is similar to former Superintendent Diana Greene’s most recent agreement. She was making $300,000 at the time of her early retirement last year.
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When the board extended Greene’s contract in 2022, it offered to pay her $310,000 – an offer she turned down, explaining that she wanted her pay among Florida’s superintendents to rank similarly as Duval County’s teachers’ pay ranks among their counterparts across Florida’s 67 counties. The average teacher salary in Duval County is about $53,000 per year.
Bernier had asked for a base salary of $350,000 plus up to $30,000 in bonuses to be distributed to his cabinet members. He also asked the board to fully pay for his and his family members’ health, dental and vision insurance, make a 25% annual contribution to a retirement account – $87,500 – and cover expenses, along with his car and hiring a mentor.
Bernier spent more than 30 years as an employee of Orange County (Fla.) Public Schools, from which he retired with a pension from the Florida Retirement System. He receives a pension benefit of about $7,000 a month, according to documents received from a public records request to the Florida Department of Management Services. The retirement contribution he requested from Duval County is separate from that.
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In total – not including the value of the various insurance policies – Bernier asked for a compensation package worth more than half a million dollars per year.
A district spokesperson said Thursday that negotiations are ongoing. The board intends for Bernier’s first day to be July 1.
