Superintendent takes $80,000 pay cut

EDMORE, Mich. (WOOD) - Montabella Community Schools Superintendent Ron Farrell figured the district provided him with a good living for the past 39 years.

"I could do year number 40 and give it back to the district," the teacher-turned-principal-turned-superintendent told 24 Hour News 8 on Tuesday.

He offered to a school board committee to work for free. But the board didn't want to cut his entire roughly $95,000 salary.

"They're probably going to give me a little," he said. "But the savings to the district will be $80,000 or better."

Some colleagues in this district that crosses from northern Montcalm County into Isabella County call Farrell frugal. He still drives a 1991 Cadillac with more than 250,000 miles on it.

"Almost 20 years old," he said. "Just getting broken in."

The superintendent drove that car Tuesday from his office in Edmore to Montabella Elementary at the northern edge of Montcalm County to participate in a rehearsal for high school commencement.
As seniors look to graduate, district leaders are looking to next year. The school system needs to cut about $750,000 in spending to break even.

The biggest single source of savings: the district will employ about 10 fewer teachers next year, the superintendent said.

"One piece of my legacy that I would never want ... is that while staff people were taking reductions and making concessions, the superintendent kept, so to speak, flying high with his wage," Farrell said.

Montabella is far from alone among West Michigan school communities in seeking creative cost-cutting solutions.

- The board of East Grand Rapids Public Schools voted Monday night to contract with Grand Rapids Public Schools for food services -- a potential budget boost for both districts.

- In Portage, the local education foundation is looking to raise $1.3 million in donations to make up for budget cuts.

- Students in Hopkins are hoping to raise money to save teaching positions and clubs.

- The Thornapple Kellogg and Greenville districts point to savings from energy conservation.

- Wyoming Public Schools and Godwin Heights Public Schools share a superintendent and chief financial officer.

And there are places where, as in Montabella, employees are giving more.

Saugatuck Public Schools teachers and administrators took two unpaid furlough days this year.

For Farrell, it's about giving back to the district where he was raised.

"What better satisfaction can I get to make me feel good than to do something good for the district," he said, "particularly at a time that the district needs it so badly."