Components of Head of School Compensation

What is commonly included in total compensation for Heads of School? 

With regard to what’s commonly included in total compensation, the list tends to be (in likely order of value):

1. Salary

2. Housing benefit

3. Tuition remission/support (sometimes to per policy, sometimes to bridge the gap between partial remission policy and complete remission, sometimes at a different school)

4. Deferred compensation

5. Retirement benefits

6. Health insurance

7. Bonus (this can sometimes be quite large)

8. Automobile (allowance or provision of car by school)

9. Life and disability insurance

10. Executive coach

11. Technology and phone

There are also sometimes less common and/or one-time benefits:

1. Relocation expenses

2. Reimbursement of legal fees

3. Forgivable low interest loan (often to support the down payment on a home purchase)

4. Parking spot (particularly in NYC or other urban settings)

5. Car service (particularly in NYC or other urban settings)

6. Gross-up for tax consequences (often for housing or tuition benefits)

7. Tax advice and financial/estate planning (increasingly uncommon)

8. Executive physical

9. Club membership (far less common than it used to be)

10. Spousal travel (usually for entertaining – less common than it used to be)

11. Discretionary account

To expand on #2 of the first list; housing should be considered as part of a complete head compensation package. It’s also helpful to a school to have the head live close by so the head can build community, be present, and entertain parents, donors, and faculty. Providing housing is essential from an equity standpoint, so schools don’t end up just hiring people who are independently wealthy or already have housing in the area.  Failure to consider housing will almost certainly lead to a weak compensation package and encourage head turn-over.