From The Evansville Courier & Press:
Q: We are working on a theory that the amount published as “salary” for school superintendents is often not the figure reported to the Indiana Teachers Retirement Fund for the purpose of calculating the retirement benefit.
We wanted to obtain the figure reported to that state fund. Teachers Retirement Fund officials said no to our request, citing state code. Any ideas on this?
A: The Teachers Retirement Fund is correct. They are restricted to reporting name and years of service only.
However, school corporations are required to file a 100R form with the state Board of Accounts that lists employees and compensation. You could ask Board of Accounts officials for that document to see what it lists as compensation for the superintendent.
Look over the document closely because sometimes an employee is paid from more than one source. The name could be listed more than once so do some digging to get the actual total.
You can also ask for a copy of or to inspect the school district’s check register to determine the take-home amount employees receive.
Budget documents of the school would also be available for inspection and copying.
The best strategy would be to talk to someone who understands how public payroll works, what documents are created, etc., to determine what record you need to ask for.
Does someone on staff have a good relationship with a city clerk-treasurer or county treasurer, for example?
Contact Steve Key, HSPA executive director and general counsel, with media law questions at skey@hspa.com or (317) 624-4427.
