Compensation for Texas superintendents can surpass corporate CEO salaries. Dr. Gayle Stinson of Birdville ISD leads the way with $551,576/year.
DALLAS — As the K-12 education landscape continues to shift and change, the focus on attracting and retaining the right people to lead and shape our area’s school districts through crucial changes continues to grow.
There are more than 1,200 superintendents in Texas who lead either traditional public-school systems or public charter school systems, and according to the latest data from the Texas Education Agency, districts are paying salaries and total compensation packages to their top leaders that rival those of leading executives at many large corporations.
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For the 2025-2026 school year, the highest compensated superintendent in the state resided in North Texas. Birdville ISD superintendent Dr. Gayle Stinson received a total pay package of $551,576.
Here are the 10 Texas superintendents who took home the highest total pay packages last school year:
Dr. Gayle Stinson, Birdville ISD – $551,576 Dr. Douglas Killian, Cypress-Fairbanks ISD – $520,231Dr. Greg Poole, Barbers Hill ISD – $513,601Dr. Jenny McGown, Klein ISD – $508,554Dr. King Davis, Killeen ISD – $508,057Dr. Curtis Null, Lake Travis ISD – $483,116Dr. Kenneth Gregorski, Katy ISD – $474,440Dr. Ricardo Lopez, Garland ISD – $467,047Mike Miles, Houston ISD – $462,000Dr. David Vinson, Conroe ISD – $454,589
It’s important to note that these rankings are the total pay each superintendent received, which is a sum of their base salaries and any supplemental funds like bonuses and stipends. To see take a closer look at the data, including base salaries, you can visit the state’s data portal.
As seen in past years, while some of Texas’s largest districts are on the list, superintendent compensation is often not tied to enrollment numbers. Birdville ISD, which is in Tarrant County, had an enrollment of just more than 22,000 students for last school year, while Cypress-Fairbanks ISD, near Houston, had nearly 115,000 students enrolled.
In fact, only four of the state’s highest-paid superintendents for the 2025-2026 school year help run districts among the state’s largest by enrollment.
Here are the 10 largest Texas school districts by enrollment.
Houston ISD – 168,812Dallas ISD – 134,308Cypress-Fairbanks ISD – 114,697Northside ISD – 98,333Katy ISD – 95,925IDEA Public Schools (Charter) – 79,608Fort Bend ISD – 78,062Conroe ISD – 72,757Austin ISD – 69,074Fort Worth ISD- 67,491
While enrollment size may not be a key determining factor in compensation for school districts’ top administrators, there could be an emphasis on experience and longevity in staffing a position that sees high turnover rates across the country, and recently in North Texas.
WFAA reached out to Birdville ISD Board President Brenda Sanders-Wise for more insight on what went into determining Dr. Stinson’s high earnings. The district provided this statement on her behalf:
The Board of Trustees is truly grateful for Dr. Stinson and the remarkable impact she continues to have on Birdville ISD. Dr. Stinson has spent 35 years in public education and 21 years as a superintendent, making her one of the longest-tenured superintendents in the state of Texas. The Board continues to be proud of the culture Dr. Stinson has helped shape, which is rooted in supporting students and families, attracting and retaining talented educators, and creating a strong sense of community and belonging across the district. As a tenured leader, she recognizes that the strength of a public school district is ultimately measured not by any one individual, but by the people and relationships that all come together to create an elite educational experience for every student. We are thankful for the experience and passion that Dr. Stinson and all our teachers, staff, and administrators bring to their work every day in Birdville ISD.
Before becoming superintendent of Birdville ISD in 2021, Dr. Stinson served as the superintendent of Lake Dallas ISD in Denton County for almost 15 years. She also held other superintendent roles in other parts of the state.