Minneapolis schools chief to get $190,000

The Minneapolis school board Tuesday approved a three-year contract with new district Superintendent Bernadeia Johnson that will pay her $190,000 per year -- plus up to an additional $30,000 in bonus pay.

The bonus provisions are to be tied to performance goals and are a departure from the contract signed by outgoing Superintendent Bill Green. It awarded him 3 percent annual raises that put his final pay at $205,918 this school year.

Next month, Green plans to return to his teaching post at Augsburg College. Johnson, the district's deputy superintendent, was selected to replace him after board members took the unusual step of forgoing a traditional search and naming her as the only candidate.

The contract approved Tuesday night runs from July 1 to June 30, 2013, and makes it possible -- beginning in July 2011 -- for Johnson to earn up to $10,000 in bonuses for each of three performance goals to be outlined annually by the board.

"[This] is something new for the district," Board Member Carla Bates said of the performance goals, a recognition that the board is "starting at the top with establishing expectations" within the school system.

The remaining provisions are much the same as those given to Green, whose three-year deal in 2007 was heralded as a break from the hidden fringe-benefit costs awarded to some Minnesota school chiefs.

Like Green, Johnson will receive a $400 monthly car allowance, severance equal to three months' pay and 28 vacation days. But she will get 12 sick days per year, compared with 10 for Green under his 2007 deal.

Last year, the St. Paul school district, the state's second-largest with about 38,000 students, turned over its superintendency to Valeria Silva. Her three-year deal calls for Silva to be paid $180,000 initially, with 1 percent pay increases beginning Jan. 1, 2011 and Jan. 1, 2012.

She also is to get a monthly $1,000 allowance for automobile and other expenses, according to the contract approved last December.

Bus driver cool under fire

Also Tuesday, the district honored bus driver Gloria Johnson for calmly steering children from gunfire that erupted April 12 at a busy South Side intersection.

That afternoon, a bullet went through the front door glass, but Johnson kept the vehicle moving, school officials said, ensuring that the children were safe before she alerted authorities.

Still, she was concerned about her driving. To the officers who approached her, Johnson reportedly said: "I'm really, really sorry. I ran a red light."