Park City School District buys $870k house for new superintendent
(KUTV) — New Park City school superintendent Dr. Jill Gildea has a $235,000 a year salary, a district-provided car, up to $7,500 a year in “professional development” expenses, and very soon, a home in Jeremy Ranch she will live in rent and mortgage-free.
The district is buying the house.
“I think it’s right in line with the ideals that were communicated to us from the community,” said Todd Hauber, district business administrator, who negotiated the purchase down from the list price of $885,000. “There was a desire from the community that the superintendent reside within the boundaries.“
Hauber said school board members and a committee set up to recruit a new superintendent heard that when they engaged in the search.
Ultimately, the board hired Gildea and approved buying a house in Park City’s sky-high real estate market.
“I think that’s insane. I don’t understand why you would do that,” said Creighton Bingley, who has owned a T-shirt store on Main Street for 30 years, echoing a couple of other locals who described the district-paid home as “b---s---.”
Bingley said he thought the superintendent should have to pay for their own housing.
“Yeah, I think they should, and I say that because I do, you do, everybody here in town does,” he said.
A Park City School District release described Dr. Gildea as “an award-winning and published educator,” who was most recently superintendent of schools in Greenwich, Connecticut.
“Dr. Gildea earned her Doctorate in curriculum and supervision from Northern Illinois University, her Master of Education in language and literacy, and her superintendent’s endorsement from National Louis University, and her Bachelor of Arts in English and Secondary Education from Bradley University,” the district stated.
Hauber said the median teacher salary in the affluent community is $68,000, with yearly incentives of several thousand dollars, and $1,200 a year for housing or travel expenses.
He said money to purchase the house comes from the district’s "capital projects" budget, which has reserves of $20 million and is funded through a tax levy.
Several parents in the district said they support the board’s decision.
Quarterly price comparisons in the Jeremy Ranch area were not available; but in Park City, the median second-quarter home price was $959,000.
