OKC schools extends Superintendent Jamie Polk’s contract, ups her salary

Oklahoma City Public Schools Superintendent Jamie Polk speaks during a back-to-school news conference Aug. 11 at John Marshall Enterprise High School in Oklahoma City. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice)

OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma City Public Schools Superintendent Jamie Polk will receive a multi-year contract extension and a $25,000 pay raise, but a district school board member suggested she deserves more.

The Oklahoma City school board voted unanimously Monday night to approve Polk’s new contract, which would keep her as district leader through the 2028-29 school year. His annual base salary will increase to $275,000, but additional details of the contract were not immediately disclosed after the board meeting.

The board’s vote follows weeks of growing complaints that Polk had not yet received a new contract with a pay increase. Tulsa Public Schools, the state’s largest district, four days ago increased the base salary of its superintendentEbony Johnson, at $290,000 and extended her contract by three years.

The Oklahoma City district, the state’s second-largest with only a few thousand students, “could have done better tonight,” board member Mike Shelton said before voting to extend Polk’s extension.

“Oklahoma City Public Schools can do better to make sure that we not only pay fairly, that we pay our superintendent for the work done, but also all of our employees,” Shelton said during the meeting. “We could have done better to ensure more equal pay for our superintendent.”

Polk, a new superintendent, was hired in May 2024 with a base salary of $250,000 and total compensation of $343,198. His contract at the time was set to end on June 30, 2027. It included insurance benefits, a vehicle, a $10,000 technology and vehicle allowance, and the possibility of an annual performance bonus of up to 10% of his salary.

Polk was the seventh highest paid superintendent in the state last year, according to Oklahoma State Department of Education Records. Yukon Public Schools Superintendent Jason Simeroth, now retired, was the highest paid with $437,217 in total compensation, followed by Norman Public Schools Superintendent Nick Migliorino at $412,016.

Dozens of people attended the Oklahoma City school board meeting Nov. 10 as the Rev. Derrick A. Scobey spoke publicly questioning why negotiations for Polk’s new contract were “at a standstill.”

Scobey, a prominent community leader and senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, discussed an open superintendent position in Des Moines Public Schools in Polk’s home state of Iowa. Des Moines Superintendent Ian Roberts resigned in September after Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested him.

“We are at risk of losing our superintendent to go home because she doesn’t have a contract in place,” Scobey said at the Nov. 10 meeting.

Polk declined to speak to reporters after the board approved her new contract, but in a statement through her communications team she said she was “fully committed to the work ahead” in Oklahoma City schools.

“I am honored to continue serving as superintendent of Oklahoma City Public Schools,” Polk said in her statement. “This contract extension reflects our collective belief that stability, clarity and collaboration are essential to maintaining the progress our students deserve. »

The $25,000 salary increase will apply to the current fiscal year, and the contract extension until June 30, 2029 is the “maximum length allowed by law,” board chair Paula Lewis said in a statement.

“We are pleased to have concluded these negotiations,” Lewis said. “The Board of Trustees continues to fully support Dr. Polk and is deeply grateful for his steadfast leadership and service to our students, staff and community.”

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