Baltimore City schools CEO contract sets $345,000 salary, perks, tenure risk

Baltimore City schools is betting big on Dr. Jermaine Dawson, locking in a four-year contract that pays him a $345,000 base salary, $48,300 in retirement pay, 46 days of paid leave and a $9,600 car allowance. The deal, approved April 20 by the Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners, runs from July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2030, and does not guarantee Dawson tenure.

That matters because the contract is not just a personnel move, it is a public promise. Dawson is set to take over from Dr. Sonja Brookins Santelises at the end of June, after Santelises’ 2017 appointment made her the longest-serving City Schools CEO since 1946. Baltimore families will now judge whether Dawson’s compensation matches the urgency of fixing student outcomes, stabilizing staffing and improving school climate across the city.

The board selected Dawson unanimously after an executive search that City Schools said included input from students, families, community members, staff, elected officials and school administrators. Dawson currently serves as deputy superintendent of academic services for the School District of Philadelphia, and the board’s choice gives him less than a month to prepare for a district that serves neighborhoods from Edmondson Village to Highlandtown and schools from West Baltimore to the waterfront.

Board Chair Robert Salley said Dawson’s leadership will help propel the district, and Mayor Brandon M. Scott said he is confident Dawson can build on what he called historic progress under Santelises. The district has pointed to that record in defending the handoff: in October 2024, it said the share of 3-, 4- and 5-star schools rose from 25% to 35% during Santelises’ tenure, while literacy proficiency increased 12.4 percentage points since her first full year, ahead of Maryland’s 6.6-point gain over the same period.

The compensation package also lands in a city where frontline school workers are still measuring pay against retention and benefits. In January, Baltimore City school employees represented by the City Union of Baltimore ratified a contract by more than 95%, winning wage increases of up to 3.5% while preserving health, pension and leave benefits. That makes Dawson’s six-figure salary and extras a clear test of priorities: whether City Schools can turn executive pay, like the rest of the budget, into better results for children in Baltimore.