Oklahoma School Superintendent Makes More Than POTUS at $412K/Year
Public Ed Elitism Leaves Oklahoma Teachers Chronically Underpaid
Since 2001, the annual salary for the President of the United States has been $400,000. A public school administrator in Norman, Oklahoma, is currently receiving total annual compensation that exceeds that amount.
According to the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE), Norman Public Schools (NPS) superintendent, Dr. Nicholas Migliorino, will be paid $411,955 in total compensation for the current school year.
Referred to as “Dr. Nick” across NPS, Migliorino came to the district as a program director in 2008-2009 and then left NPS from 2011 until 2014 to market School Connect, a school communications app he began developing while at NPS.
Migliorino, who holds a Ph.D. in educational technologies, described School Connect as free to other districts and then sold the app to school products juggernaut Jostens for an undisclosed sum in 2014.
In 2014, Migliorino returned to NPS as assistant superintendent and then became the district’s superintendent in 2017.
Norman is a suburban community and home to the University of Oklahoma. With a current enrollment of 15,687 PK-12 students, NPS is neither the largest nor smallest of Oklahoma’s 541 districts that each serve from 25 to 33,572 students.
NPS’s 4-year graduation rate is exactly average for Oklahoma having dropped from 89.4% in 2017, just prior to Migliorino becoming superintendent, to 81.3% by 2023.
OSDE records show NPS currently operates three (3) high schools, four (4) middle schools and 18 elementary schools. The agency’s A-F report card system for school performance rates the district’s 25 sites as follows for the 2023-24 school year:
A - 1 school site
B - 7 school sites
C- 9 school sites
D - 7 school sites
(For unknown reasons, Truman Primary School did not receive a letter grade)
In 2023-24, most NPS students (59%) tested below proficiency in all major subject areas. In both math and science, 65% were below proficiency.
NPS students observably experience significant academic slide (decreases in proficiency) as grade levels progress.
In addition, the Oklahoma Educators Association’s (OEA) annual Oklahoma City Area Salary Comparison regularly shows NPS’s payscale for teachers to be lower than many other area districts including Crooked Oak, Deer Creek, Edmond, Moore, Mustang, Oklahoma City and Piedmont.
NPS’s size, performance and teacher payscale under Migliorino’s leadership provide no justification for his rapidly growing compensation package over the past eight years.
NPS’s First “Openly LGBTQ+ Board Member” Admits Board Protects Supt from Voters with Ever-Extended Contract & Paid PR Firm’s Evaluation Standards
In April of 2022, after being voted onto the NPS Board of Education, Alex Ruggiers described himself as the “first openly LGBTQ+ member on their board” and claimed that by electing him, the town of Norman “took a stand for LGBTQ+ children and families who are being targeted”.
Ruggiers’ labeling and connection of children with acronyms describing adult sexual preferences is emblematic of a growing divide between parents and public education.
Ruggiers ran on lowering NPS’s “administrative bloat” and restoring community trust through board transparency and accountability.
In February of 2023, within a Facebook post, Ruggiers informed constituents the board was renewing Superintendent Migliorino’s 3-year contract each year to consistently provide “job security should the public elect a board that does not support the current superintendent”.
Ruggiers’ revelations brought comments of consternation from constituents concerning the perpetually extended contract and questions about how Migliorino‘s performance was being evaluated.
According to Ruggiers’ response, NPS’s top administrator is evaluated based upon the district’s 2022-2027 Strategic Plan which stresses creating a “culture of belonging“ but does not tie to student assessment scores or even grades.
To design and monitor the strategic plan, the district used taxpayer funds to hire Koch Comm, the advertising and marketing firm behind NPS’s successful $353.9 million bond proposal in 2023. Koch Comm, known for pushing the expensive plans of politicians and public agencies, designed the survey that most recently evaluated progress under NPS’s Strategic Plan, thus determining Migliorino’s performance evaluation and contract extension.
While 4,852 “adult stakeholders” and 1,696 high school students completed the survey, the district did not disclose how many of those adults were district employees. The district reports having 2,251 employees and more than 40 advisory committees filled with hundreds of community stakeholders.
In keeping with NPS’s publicly espoused core values of integrity, inclusivity, collaboration and optimism, the survey included questions like “Do we deliver a full range of racial, social and indigenous perspectives that are honored and respected in teaching to create broad understandings in our schools?”
NPS Massive Supt’s Contract Forces More Than $1 Million Buyout if Voters Demand Change
Through an Open Records Request, V1SUT obtained copies of Migliorino’s last three (3) contracts with NPS confirming Ruggiers’ claims. Executed in February of 2023, 2024 and 2025, each contract extends for three (3) years with the latest contract term being July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2028.
Migliorino’s compensation follows a generous and complicated calculation many underpaid teacher’s may find inequitable:
Base salary of $261,419.05 (2024-2025) with an annual, guaranteed raise of 2.25% or the average raise of off-scale employees (whichever is higher). However, in year’s two and three of the contract, the Board and superintendent “agree to renegotiate salary and benefits at the commencement of each fiscal year” further stating “in no event shall the salary and benefits for the subsequent fiscal year be any less than the (current) salary and benefits”.
Annual retention stipend of 10% of base salary ($26,141.91 in 2024-2025).
Annual contribution of 25% of base salary to a 403(b) retirement plan with an option to receive those funds directly as salary ($65,354.76 in 2024-2025).
Paid medical, dental and vision insurance for himself and his dependents.
All cost of full eligibility within Oklahoma Teacher’s Retirement System.
All legal costs of defense and judgement should the superintendent be sued during his employment.
Paid long-term disability and life insurance policy with up to $250,000 death benefit.
Additional flexible benefit allowance for superintendents (optional under 70 OKLA. STAT. § 26-105).
Reimbursement of travel and other “necessary” expenses based on board policy (V1SUT could find no related NPS policy on superintendent expenses but an inside source states clothing costs are included for Migliorino).
Paid membership dues for unions, education NGO’s and civic organizations such as “American Association of School Administrators, Oklahoma Association of School Administrators, Oklahoma Association of School Business Officials, Rotary, and Kiwanis”.
A district-provided cellular telephone.
And what happens if voters overturn the NPS board and seek to fire Migliorino? They must pay out well over $1 million of his full contract which is perpetually in the first of three (3) years before hiring his replacement to cover the same years.
Firing Migliorino would be financial double jeopardy for Norman constituents, no matter how the district is performing.
In addition to his golden parachute, based on the state’s formula for teacher’s retirement benefits, Migliorino is estimated to collect more than $300,000 per year after retiring.
Two Previously Supportive Board Members Vote NO on Latest Supt Contract
At the February 3, 2025, NPS Board of Education meeting, members Alex Ruggiers and Annette Price voted against approving Migliorino’s proposed contract for July 2025 through June 2028. The contract was approved by a 3-2 vote. In 2023 and 2024, the same approval votes for Migliorino’s renewal were unanimous.
On April 5th, V1SUT reached out to both Ruggiers and Price, who also ran on bringing transparency to NPS constituents. Both failed to comment about their votes against Migliorino’s renewal contract.
Migliorino Wanted Mask & Vax Mandates to Continue: Serves on Executive Committee for School Administrators Union
Migliorino currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Oklahoma Association of School Administrators (OASA) and was in step with the education NGO’s concerning Covid restrictions, requirements and school closures.
Despite Senate Bill 658 prohibiting mandates, NPS pushed masks, vaccines and quarantine expectations well into the 2021-2022 school year.
“The medical community has made it abundantly clear that masks are an effective tool in stopping the spread of this virus. We have seen from experience that masks work. Beginning Tuesday, Sept. 7, it is our expectation that anyone who enters our buildings will wear a mask. All visitors to our schools will be required to wear a mask.” - NPS Supt Migliorino (email to parents: August 2021)
Migliorino kept the pressure on families to vaccinate despite the known rash of break-through cases proving the experimental Covid-19 mRNA shots were not preventing transmission.
“State law prohibits us from mandating masks or vaccinations. As a public school district we will not work in opposition to the law, but I am imploring each and every one of you to help us keep our schools open. Help us care for our kids and our teachers. Wear a mask. Get vaccinated. These things are not guarantees, but they are the tools by which we lower our risk and protect each other. They are the tools by which we prioritize in-person learning and minimize disruption to students and families.” - NPS Supt Migliorino (email to parents: August 2021)
NPS continued to move schools to virtual learning and even close the district on some days during 2022 due to Covid related staffing issues.
And now, in 2025, highly vaxed, highly masked NPS continues to close the district due to ongoing mini-epidemics of respiratory illness. Yesteryear’s snow days have been replaced by districtwide sick days.
Further evidence of NPS’s progressive culture and adherence to union talking points was revealed when the district was forced to relabel its title for Stephanie Williams, formerly Executive Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (2020-2023), to Executive Director of Student Services after a 2023 statewide ban on discriminatory DEI positions and activities took effect.
Williams is part of Migliorino’s highly paid, eight (8) member “cabinet”. The district’s Leadership Organization Chart maps an even larger group of district-level administrators.
It seems some are benefitting greatly from NPS. It just might not be Norman teachers, families or children.
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Is there even one school superintendent in Oklahoma who is doing a great job and the evidence is seen in the outcomes of the student's academic performance? Amongst the 50 largest school districts in terms of enrollment?
Thank you for this information. It's unconscionable that someone in a service position could take advantage of the families of Norman, and of the teachers who also serve those families, to line his pockets so thoroughly 😤 How many new teachers choose not to stay in Oklahoma, or veteran teachers quit, because of low pay? This is so frustrating!