New KC schools leader Mark Bedell will get $225,000 salary, three-year contract

Kansas City Public Schools’ new superintendent, Mark Bedell, will get a three-year contract with a $225,000 annual base salary, the district’s school board announced Thursday.

A tentative accord was reached Wednesday, with details to follow when the agreement is final. Bedell, 41, and the board had been negotiating since he was chosen in January. He is expected here next week to sign the contract.

The other terms announced Thursday: a district automobile, health and dental insurance, moving expenses, a retirement plan contribution and a retention bonus at the end of the three years.

In the announcement, board chairman Jon Hile described Bedell, an assistant superintendent for high schools at Baltimore County Public Schools, as “an innovative, devoted and inspiring leader” whose “unique talents” would benefit “our students, parents, staff and partners.”

Bedell will replace Steve Green, who took a superintendent job in the Atlanta area, where some of his children and grandchildren live. Green’s last Kansas City contract, approved in October 2013, included a salary of $250,000. His final annual compensation, including benefits, was valued at more than $342,500.

The announcement of Bedell’s terms didn’t provide a valuation for his benefits.

This story was originally published March 24, 2016 at 5:20 PM with the headline "New KC schools leader Mark Bedell will get $225,000 salary, three-year contract."