TUSD's superintendent gets $4K in performance-based compensation

Tucson Unified School District Superintendent Gabriel Trujillo was granted about $4,000 worth of performance-based compensation for school years 2022-23 and 2023-24.

TUSD’s governing board on Tuesday decided unanimously to pay Trujillo $2,091 for 2022-23 and $1,913 for 2023-24. He was eligible for $5,000 in performance-based compensation for each year.

The compensation is determined based on goals previously adopted and revised by the board. Trujillo’s evaluation included data on enrollment and attendance, academic performance and teacher vacancy and retention.

Data in the evaluation showed TUSD’s enrollment dropping by 773 between 2022-23 (40,140) and 2023-24 (39,367). These numbers are based on enrollment on the 100th day of school and do not include preschool enrollment.

The goal was to keep enrollment stable or increase the number of students.

Under Trujillo, TUSD had K-12 students had 87% annual attendance in 2023-24. The goal for each grade level, including the total K-12 attendance, was 95%.

Student academic performance varied, marginally, measured by standardized testing in math and English.

Under Trujillo, the district met its goal for the percentage of A and B state-graded schools, with two-thirds of the district’s schools receiving high marks from the Arizona Department of Education.

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Goals pertaining to teacher vacancies focused on middle school vacancies on the 40th day of school and special education teachers on the district’s 100th day of school. Middle school vacancies dropped 55% between 2022-23 and 2023-24. Special education vacancies dropped by 34%.

These numbers exceeded Trujillo’s goal of 10% decreases in each category.

Whether Trujillo achieved the financial goals for the 2023-24 school year has yet to be determined. Data from the Classroom Spending Report will be available on March 1.

When evaluating the district’ superintendent, each governing board member provides individual scores for each goal, which are then averaged and used to calculate the district leader’s performance pay.

Under Arizona state law, part of a school superintendent’s pay must be performance based, capped at $5,000.

As of July 2023, Trujillo’s salary was $230,000 a year.