HILO — The state Board of Education on Tuesday approved raises for 23 of Hawaii’s top-ranking education administrators.
HILO — The state Board of Education on Tuesday approved raises for 23 of Hawaii’s top-ranking education administrators.
The merit-based pay increases average 3.5 percent — or $4,439 each — and will apply retroactively to July 1, the first day of the fiscal year and the date when other unionized state Department of Education employees received raises.
The raises are slated to cost $110,675.58, according to BOE meeting materials, and will apply to the deputy superintendent, 16 complex area superintendents and six assistant superintendents.
“Obviously, this is a matter of importance,” BOE Vice Chairman Brian De Lima said during the board meeting Tuesday in Honolulu. “… We have hardworking superintendents and complex area superintendents, and we value their involvement as well as their hard work.”
The topic first came up during an August board meeting when DOE leaders requested across-the-board 4.5 percent increases for the positions. Several people testified against that proposal, including Waiakea High School teacher Mireille Ellsworth, who called it a “horrible public relations move.”
The board also questioned whether raises should instead be tied to performance and ultimately deferred the matter to this month’s meeting.
After the increases, the deputy and assistant superintendents earn between $143,023 and $166,681. Complex area superintendents earn between $129,250 and $157,676.
Email Kirsten Johnson at kjohnson@hawaiitribune-herald.com.