Selma School Superintendent Don Jefferson will get a salary of $118,500 and travel allowance of $800 a month, but other benefits will be limited to what other school employees receive.

In a four-to-one vote, the Selma City School Board awarded a contract to Jefferson during its Thursday meeting at Cedar Park Elementary School.

But the contract was less than Jefferson wanted, but he talked only about leadership after the meeting.

“From a leadership standpoint, it was something I learned a long time ago you can either take something from an organization or put something into an organization,” Jefferson said. “And my passion is to make the Selma City School System the very best it can possibly be. And I am here to serve. You can’t put a dollar amount onto anything that I bring to this table. There is no way. There are a lot of challenges out there that the school system will have to give adherence in the months and years to come. And the only way to do that is through quality and effective leadership. And that’s what I will be providing for the Selma City School System.”

At issue were a short-term and a long-term disability policy, a $250,000 life insurance policy and an annuity worth 5 percent of his salary, which the school board rejected.

The school board attorney Katy Campbell explained the disability policies would have cost $3,152 a year, which is 2.66 percent of Jefferson’s salary. The $250,000 life insurance policy was estimated at $1,320 a year or 1.1 percent of his salary and the annuity would total $5,925 a year.

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