:Katrine Maquire 260 Long Oak Drive West Chicago, IL 60185
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	Email	maguirek@wegoed33.k12.il.us

My fellow Board members need to speak for themselves as to why they approved the salary increase for Mr. Leman. My rationale was based on research at www.thechampion.org. I looked at over 30 superintendent salaries in the area and number of years of service. Comparisons were difficult. Many of the superintendents appear to be in the final years prior to retirement. As a result, their salaries had received the pre-retirement bump which is so common in Illinois currently. I did find several salaries in the Chicago
suburban area that were for relatively new administrators. Almost all of these were higher than Mr. Leman's salary. I did look at downstate salaries. These are lower. However, the cost of living is also lower. I felt that the appropriate comparison was to salaries in the area.

My concern with maintaining the salary at the negotiated contract price was retention after the contracted period. Without some sort of annual increase, I was afraid we would have to incur a substantial increase at the end of the period if we choose to retain Mr. Leman. Also, my research at www.thechampion.org led me to believe that we would probably pay more to replace Mr. Leman. I felt that an increase currently would not only encourage Mr. Leman to continue with his hard work, but build good will toward the future.

Katrine Maguire