The state Department of Education’s senior management team will receive 4 percent raises at the start of next month under a request approved Tuesday by the Board of Education.
The increases collectively will cost about $120,000 and cover about two dozen positions: the department’s deputy superintendent, six assistant superintendents, 15 complex area superintendents and the administrative assistant to schools Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi.
The Board of Education is authorized by law to set the salaries for these positions, without exceeding that of the superintendent, who currently earns $200,000.
The board unanimously voted to approve the increases, and the following salary ranges will take effect July 1:
» Deputy superintendent: $140,000 to $180,000
» Assistant superintendents: $120,000 to $160,000
» Complex-area superintendents: $125,000 to $145,000
As top-level managerial positions, the posts are excluded from collective bargaining, but most are attached to the bargaining unit representing the DOE’s principals and vice principals.
"In other words, unless and until the board takes action, there are no compensation adjustments for these employees," Barbara Krieg, assistant superintendent for human resources, told the BOE’s Human Resources Committee on Tuesday.
The board last summer approved retroactive raises of 4 percent for assistant superintendents and complex-area superintendents for the 2013-14 and 2014-15 school years.
Krieg said the latest 4 percent raises are consistent with the average increases negotiated for subordinate unionized employees.
An arbitration panel last year awarded annual 4.5 percent pay raises to the DOE’s approximately 850 principals, vice principals and other school- and district-level educational officers covered by the Hawaii Government Employees Association. The authorized salary for a high school principals ranges from $110,812 to $148,380, according to the DOE.
Meanwhile, under teachers’ 2013-17 labor contract, the Hawaii State Teachers Association secured annual raises of at least 3.2 percent through a combination of raises and pay grade step-ups in alternating years for its 13,500 members. The teachers union earlier this year negotiated additional compensation for the remaining two years of the contract, including a lump-sum bonus and a 1.8 percent raise that will take effect when the contract expires.
That deal ties teacher raises to ratings on a new teacher evaluation system that’s based in part on student test scores.
BOE Chairman Don Horner on Tuesday said he supported the idea of rewarding effective senior executives with pay raises but questioned whether the management team had received performance evaluations.
"We’re requiring our teachers, before they get a raise, to meet certain standards in performance. That’s the same request we made of our principals. … And here you are, giving across-the-board raises to our senior management staff without any reference to performance," Horner said. "Personally, I have a problem with that."
Krieg said formal evaluations were not completed for school year 2014-15 because of the recent departure of the department’s former deputy superintendent. But she assured the board that "nobody stays in these positions if their performance is not satisfactory."
Under questioning, Krieg clarified that the raises, while termed "across the board," are not arbitrary, explaining that she and the superintendent informally assessed each individual who would be receiving a 4 percent raise.
"This recommendation is not a default, if you will," she said.
BOE member Brian De Lima criticized the department for allowing formal evaluations to hinge on a single person, referring to the departure of former Deputy Superintendent Ronn Nozoe.
"I’m quite frankly perturbed by this discussion. I would rather have heard what I sense is actually going on — that there is an evaluation process, everybody is participating, there have been positive evaluations and the superintendent’s team is satisfied with everyone’s performance to date," De Lima said.
"I’m concerned that just because one person left, that the team could not complete the evaluation process for this past academic year," he added. "I think that’s a flaw in our present system that we should try to remedy, because when people are doing a good job, they should be acknowledged for the good job that they’re doing."
Senior Assistant Superintendent Amy Kunz said Nozoe, who left in April, had been performing quarterly "stocktakes" with complex-area superintendents regarding strategic goals, something that will continue under newly appointed Deputy Superintendent Stephen Schatz. She said the superintendent does a similar assessment with assistant superintendents three times a year.
Kunz, who is also chief financial officer, said the raises will be covered by the DOE’s existing salary budget, made possible by savings from vacancies.
