Kansas school employee paid $630,000, here's why

JUNCTION CITY (KSNT) - An employee with a northeast Kansas school district was received a big six-figure salary, more than what the U.S. president is paid in a year, in the 2023-2024 semester. 27 News is finding out why.

David Wild, while employed at Geary County Unified School District 475, was paid a whopping $631,000 during the 2023-2024 school year, jumping hundreds of thousands of dollars from the previous school year's pay, according to a report from The Sentinel. Amounting to a good deal more than the president's salary, set at $400,000 a year, 27 News asked the school district what the reasons were for Wild's large paycheck.

Christina Kausler, assistant to the superintendent and Board of Education clerk, responded to 27 News with a written response to several questions explaining Wild's pay. She provided some statistics on Wild's pay starting with the 2021-2022 school year.

• 2021-2022: $114,632.45
• 2022-2023: $93,181.65
• 2023-2024: $631,071.87

Wild previously served in the district as chief operations officer and construction program manager, reporting to the district's Superintendent Dr. Reginald Eggleston. He is currently not employed with the district with his final day arriving on April 2, 2024.

Economically speaking, this puts Wild far above what would be considered middle class in Kansas. The lower end of the middle class is just below $46,000 while the upper end is considered to be around $137,000, according to a report from The Hill earlier this year.

Wild's pay comes from the district's connections with the nearby Fort Riley military post and its Intergovernmental Support Agreement (IGSA). Eggleston posted an explanation of how this program works on USD 475's social media on Aug. 18.

"Geary County Schools USD 475 entered into an Intergovernmental Support Agreement (IGSA) in 2021 with U.S. Army Garrison (USAG) Fort Riley for design-build, capital improvement, repair, and maintenance projects on post. In 2022, USD 475 signed a 10-year agreement to continue these services. The Secretary of the Army is authorized to enter an IGSA on a sole-source basis with state or local governmental units, and USD 475 is one of several entities involved in such agreements.

Under this IGSA, USD 475 earns 8 percent of all contracts through Fort Riley. Of this 8 percent, 1 percent was allocated to Mr. David Wild as our employee responsible for managing the agreement. Both the district and Fort Riley agreed that Mr. Wild’s background and experience with contracting made him a viable candidate for this work. This compensation came from the IGSA funds and was not paid from the school district’s federal, state, or local budget."

USD 475 Superintendent Dr. Reginal Eggleston

Kausler said as of July 30, 2024 the district had received more than $6.8 million through its partnership with IGSA as of July 30, 2024. IGSA funds are designated for federal projects at Fort Riley post only and are not to be used for school district projects. The remaining 7% of funds retained by the district are invested into school projects, ongoing maintenance and other capital outlay needs.

Eggleston emphasizes in his Aug. 18 statement that none of the IGSA funds are sourced from local tax dollars. The partnership between Fort Riley and USD 475 helps to support the military post's federal projects while also giving the district cash to help support its students and community.

Kausler said the first $935,440 had been received by the district. The 7% of IGSA funds was put into capital outlay for daily operations. Another $4 million is being invested to pay for extracurricular activities.

Half of the students enrolled in USD 475 are connected to the military with five of the 17 schools in the district located on Fort Riley. Five new schools have been added to the district since 2012 to serve the communities of Junction City, Fort Riley, Grandview Plaza and Milford. The district had more than 7,300 students in it during the 2023-2024 school year and employs 650 certified staff and 700 classified staff.

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