The state’s highest-paid superintendent will receive a $20,000 raise each year for the next three years under a contract trustees approved without discussion Monday.
West Ada School District Superintendent Derek Bub will take home $250,822 for the 2026-27 school year. That amount will increase to $290,822 by the 2028-29 school year. Bub makes $230,822 for the fiscal year that ends at the end of this month.
The board approved the contract on the consent agenda at Monday’s board meeting, a routine approval process for items not expected to require discussion. Trustees did not comment on the agreement publicly, but attached a memo for patrons to the agenda.
Trustees wanted to bring the superintendent’s salary closer to “national benchmarks for districts of comparable size,” the memo reads.
During a recent nationwide search for an executive, the district found many highly qualified candidates chose not to pursue employment with the district because the salary was not competitive enough, according to the memo.
Bub’s raise will “occur gradually over the next three years and will position West Ada just below the national average for similarly sized districts,” the memo states.
Meanwhile, West Ada teachers will not receive an across-the-board salary increase for the coming school year but will be able to move up the career ladder — the district’s system for increasing pay based on experience, education and performance — if they qualify, according to West Ada Chief Financial Officer Dave Roberts.
Monday’s memo states that West Ada, Idaho’s largest district, is in one of the strongest financial positions in its history.
“The best way to serve our students, employees, and community is to ensure West Ada remains Idaho’s premier school district,” trustees wrote. “Aligning the Superintendent’s contract more closely with national norms reflects our commitment to sustaining that excellence.”
Trustees selected Bub to lead the district in 2021. He is the former principal of Centennial High School.
Click here to read the three-year contract and here to read the memo from trustees.
How other superintendent salaries compare
As EdNews reported in November, Bub is the highest paid superintendent in the state for the 2025-26 school year.
Here’s a list of the top 10 traditional public school administrator salaries, which do not include benefit compensations:
- $230,822, Derek Bub, West Ada superintendent
- $218,362, Lisa Roberts, Boise superintendent
- $209,139, Becky Meyer, Lake Pend Oreille superintendent
- $198,450, James Foudy, Blaine County superintendent
- $188,407, Wendy Johnson, Boise assistant superintendent
- $188,407, Nicholas Smith, Boise assistant superintendent
- $185,101, Dena Naccarato, Post Falls superintendent
- $180,040, Scott Woolstenhulme, Bonneville superintendent
- $177,944, Norma French, Caldwell superintendent
- $176,127, Douglas Howell, Pocatello superintendent
