Brantford-Brant educators have lion’s share of Sunshine List rankings

The education sector accounted for more than half of the 2,400 public sector workers in Brantford-Brant who earned more than $100,000 last year.

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The Grand Erie District School Board had 1,022 employees on the so-called Sunshine List for 2022, a reduction of eight compared to 2021.

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The Sunshine List was created in 1996 as a result of Ontario’s Public Sector Disclosure Act.

Designed to ensure accountability to taxpayers, the list shows public sector employees earning an annual salary in excess of $100,000.

Topping the list for the GEDSB is teacher William Gemmell who was paid $224,143.98 in 2022, that is $96,000 more than the next highest-paid teacher at $127,890.99.

“This was related to a one-time, retroactive adjustment for this employee,” said Dave Smouter, manager of communications. “We anticipate this employee salary will return to normal for 2023.”

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Director of education Joanna Roberto earned $208,482.29 last year. The salary for that position rose steadily from $172,106.54 in 2015 to $216,333.19 in 2018 when Brenda Blancher held the title.

“The increase in 2015-2018 for the director’s salary was connected to executive compensation at the time,” Smouter noted.

Superintendent of education April Smith was paid $166,012.62, followed closely by four other superintendents at $165,800.21.

The Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board fielded 445 employees on the 2022 Sunshine List, compared to 442 in the previous year.

At the top of the list is Michael McDonald, director of education and secretary, who earned $200,644.22.

Secondary school teacher Mary Theresa Coene earned $172,292.11 in 2022. That’s almost $52,000 more than the next highest-paid teacher on the list.

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BHNCDSB manager of communications Tracey Austin said that she could not speak to individual cases but outlined several scenarios common to academic staff.

Those include staff taking on additional roles outside of a teacher’s regular duties and workday such as tutoring, and summer school or continuing education programs.

Austin also said staff can self-finance a planned leave by taking a reduced salary for several years in order to receive the banked difference during their leave. In certain circumstances the staff person does not proceed with the planned leave.

“These examples would be payment on top of an individual’s regular salary and could result in them appearing on the provincial salary disclosure list or being involved in a one-time, out of schedule, increase in remuneration,” Austin noted.

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Wilfrid Laurier University had 682 staff on the Sunshine List for 2022.

Deborah MacLatchy, president of the university, was paid $360,000.04 in 2022.

In many cases, the list does not delineate at which Laurier campus the individual works.

“Because our senior administrators have oversight that is multi-campus, it is accurate to cite them as the top earners at Laurier as a whole,” said director of strategic communications and community engagement Beth Gurney, adding that several Laurier Brantford faculty are on the Sunshine List.

Others on the Laurier executive leadership team who made the list include:

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Adam Lawrence, dean of students at Laurier Brantford, was listed as earning $188,258.75 last year.

Six Nations Polytechnic ranked just one employee on the list, compared to three in 2021.

Dillon Hannah, acting registrar and director of student affairs, earned $113,289.00 in 2022.

The first list, released 27 years ago, included 4,576 names across the province and, every year since, the numbers have risen as more and more public servants crossed the $100,000 threshold.

In 2022, a record 266,892 people from among 2,232 employers earned in excess of $100,000, up from 244,188 the year before.

The sum of all public sector salaries on the Sunshine List totaled just over $33.3 billion.

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