Taking Community Service to Heart

By Lee Ann Murphy

Lest we forget, it’s not all about pay and perks. Superintendents are educators who care about kids and the community. No one exemplifies the service side of your job better than Brunswick (OH) School Superintendent James Hayas. After he announced his intention to retire at the end of the school year, the board asked him to stay on a little longer. Hayas was in a position to negotiate a better salary and a few more perks for himself as well. Instead, he decided to ask for a $78,000-a-year pay cut. Next year, the district will pay him an annual salary of just $25,000 as he starts his 13th year as school chief.

Needless to say, school board members were happily surprised when Hayas came to them with his new salary requirements. And, he admits, some colleagues have asked him what he’s thinking. But for Hayas, the decision is deeply personal. “I’m unique in that I was raised in this community. I’m a product of Brunswick Schools. I’ve spent my whole career here,” he says. “After the board asked me to stay on, I started to realize that I owe a great deal to the opportunities I’ve received here in my hometown. It felt like the right time to give something back.”

Hayas’s decision comes at a good time for the district, which is in a dire financial predicament. “We have a levy on the ballot this year, and if it doesn’t pass, we’re going to face some tough choices,” he says. “Maybe my decision will save some little program or another.”

Still, he doesn’t see himself as a hero. “If I had spent my career in another place, I might not have done it. But I love this community.”

And the community returns the sentiment. At a public hearing to officially approve the rehiring of Hayas, people came out en masse to support him.

“I have to admit, though, I do get a little ribbing now,” he says. “Some people at the school say, ‘Hey, I’m making more than you. Does that mean I still have to listen to you?’

“The thing about it is, I have so much more than I ever thought I would when I went into teaching. The pension plan is good. I have 35 years invested. So I’m going to be fine. All of a sudden it dawned on me that there’s more to life than taking as much as you can get. Maybe I’m just getting old. Who knows?”