Richland’s new school superintendent took $100,000 pay cut to come to Tri-Cities

Richland officially hired a new school superintendent on the same day that its current leader retired.

The school board signed off on a three-year contract for incoming Superintendent Shelley Redinger to start work at the beginning of August.

The contract will make Redinger the highest paid superintendent in the Tri-Cities at $195,000 a year to lead the smallest of the three Tri-City districts.

This puts her ahead of Pasco’s Michelle Whitney, who made $188,000 this school year, and Kennewick’s Traci Pierce at $153,000, according to the state.

While the pay is high for the Tri-Cities, it will be a significant drop for Redinger, who was earning about $280,000 as the head of the Spokane School District, according to state records.

The Spokane district is the second largest in the state with more than 30,000 students. Richland has about 14,000 students.

Kennewick and Pasco have about 19,000 students.

Redinger started her career in Richland during the early 1990s, working 13 years as a teacher, principal and administrator before being hired in Sandy, Ore., and then Fredricksburg, Va.

She was in Spokane for 12 years before taking the Richland position. She said she was trying to find a change of pace and a place where her husband could work as an engineer.

Redinger will stay on in Spokane until the end of July so she can help with the transition.

Schulte retirement

In August she will take over for Superintendent Rick Schulte, who is retiring after a nearly 50-year career.

He agreed to serve as the interim superintendent on a voluntary basis until Redinger starts.

Schulte planned to retire last year, but agreed to a one-year contract extension after a clash between teachers and incoming Superintendent Nicole MacTavish over potential cuts to special education. The school board ended up canceling MacTavish’s three-year contract.

After the decision, some members of the public called for an open selection process for the next superintendent choice after most of the previous search was held behind closed doors.

The board followed through, held a public search but its next candidate, Mark Davidson from Alberta, Canada, backed out of taking the job less than a month before Schulte was scheduled to leave.

The board quickly reviewed its applications, and returned to Redinger who had originally applied but had a conflict with the interview schedule in February or March.

Less than three weeks later, the district announced her hire.

The decision was met with mixed responses on the school district’s Facebook page.

Several were concerned that the lack of transparency was just leading them back into the same problems they faced with MacTavish and others.

“Why am I suspicious. No transparency by RSD? She is moving from the second largest district in the state to the smallest of the three districts in the Tri-Cities,” another comment said.

Many others were happy to have her back and had heard good things about her from other educators.

“Welcome back to Richland, Dr. Redinger!” one comment said. “We’re thrilled to have your leadership during this time of transition. Praying you feel welcomed in the midst of these turbulent times.”