Rock Ridge unanimously approved a three-year contract extension for Superintendent Dr. Noel Schmidt on Monday, clearing one of the district’s to-do list items on the 2026-27 budget year.
Terms of the extension include no pay raise throughout the deal, and the discontinuation of a $10,000 annual bonus. Schmidt declined health insurance through the district, a savings of $10,000 to $30,000 annually for individual and family plans, respectively. Other incentives are also not provided in the contract, including payout for unused sick and vacation time.
A copy of the contract was not made available as of Tuesday morning. The contract was not listed officially on the board’s agenda Monday.
Schmidt was on the final year of his contract, which was approved in 2023 and set to expire June 30, with a final salary of $220,244. The bonus structure is due to payout at the end of the current contract. It was put in place by the former Virginia district before the consolidation into Rock Ridge, and was kept until the new buildings were constructed.
“We have 600 employees and I guarantee he’s the only one that will be taking a pay cut this cycle,” Chair John Uhan said. “It’s clean. It’s concise.”
Rock Ridge opened negotiations with Schmidt and the teachers union in August after a tenuous period of budget cuts prior to the school year. So-called “zero and zero” raises for the union were floated by the board and Schmidt during those cuts, and he too was pressed by directors and staff to consider forgoing a pay raise.
Uhan said the district has not reached an agreement with the union. Another negotiating session was scheduled for Tuesday.
“We have big budget constraints and obviously our top leader sees that, and is showing again being a role model and showing leadership,” said Director Nicole Culbert Dahl, a member of the negotiating committee with Uhan and Director Tim Riordan.
Director Brandi Lautigar encouraged the board to stay on top of evaluations for administration moving forward. Uhan said the lack of one for Schmidt last year was his responsibility as the new board chair, but it was missed.
The superintendent was provided goals by the board, and Riordan said directors were regularly provided updates. An evaluation form put out by the Minnesota School Board Association would serve as the template for Rock Ridge moving forward, he added, with the goal of setting a certain month of the year to perform reviews.
“The board has failed in that respect,” Culbert Dahl said. “It is up to us to give our superintendent what we want as a board and our vision. We haven’t done that effectively.”
Accessing the Rock Ridge School Board
Video of the Rock Ridge meeting and the unofficial summary of minutes are provided by Rock Ridge. The unofficial summary for Feb. 9 was not posted at the time of publishing.
