The Jefferson County Board of Education set the advertised base salary for its new superintendent at $300,000.

“Three hundred does seem like a lot, but I absolutely want the best,” said board member Ali Lasell.

The salary advertisement came from a recommendation from Gary Ray, president of Ray & Associates — the consulting firm hired by the district to aid in the search.

“I know that takes peoples breath away,” Ray said of the $300,000 proposed salary. “If you keep the salary low, then you might be the training ground for superintendents.”

Ray presented the board with data from similar sized districts throughout the country that placed the average Superintendent salary for 2017-18 at $326,120.

Current Jeffco Superintendent Dan McMinimee's contract with Jeffco Schools lists his base salary as $220,000 with up to an additional $40,000 of performance pay bonuses. His contract expires June 30, and the Board voted Jan. 12 not to renew that contract, but instead move forward with a national superintendent search.

Board members voted Jan. 12, to engage in a search for a new superintendent and not renew McMinimee, whose contact expires in July.

McMinimee became superintendent of Jeffco Schools in July 2014, replacing longtime Superintendent Cindy Stevenson.

An original district timeline on hiring a new Jeffco Schools Superintendent had a finalist being selected in May. However, the Jeffco Board of Education felt that was too far away.

Board President Ron Mitchell requested that the final selection be moved up to April.

“I would be in favor of that,” Lasell said. “I would like to have the largest candidate pool that we can.”

The next step in the search process is to get the community involved.

An online survey seeking community input on the qualities desired in a superintended will launch Friday, Feb. 9. The school board will also be asked to take the same survey, said Amy Weber, chief human resources officer for Jeffco Schools.

“I believe our board is absolutely committed to an open transparent process in hiring a new superintendent,” said board president Ron Mitchell. “Our goal here is to select the strongest leader we can find moving Jeffco forward.”