Principals sign new contracts

The Oak Harbor School District and the Oak Harbor Building Administrators Association have reached a contract agreement, giving all principals, vice principals and school directors what amounts to three days’ extra pay.

With only 17 district employees in this category, the negotiating only took two short sessions, according to Schools Superintendent Rick Schulte.

The amount each certificated administrator will receive is based on their salaries, but Schulte said overall it is about a 1.4 percent increase per person.

With almost all the administrators at the top of a four-step salary scale, the increase will cost the district between $17,000 and $20,000 this year. The annual budget for certificated administrators, with benefits, is $1.74 million, or 4.35 percent of the district budget.

Oak Harbor High School Principal Dick Devlin is at the top of the pay scale, earning $441 per day for a 218 day work year. Devlin’s salary increased from $94,830 to $96,193.

Schulte said Oak Harbor likes to be in the median salary range for comparable districts.

“We’re in the ballpark,” he said.

When advertising for administrators, salary is the most important factor, he said, and they have lost some candidates who were looking for better pay.

“It’s getting difficult to find quality high school and middle school principals,” Schulte said.

The school district has given pay increases or compensation to the teachers and building administrators, and the Public School employees contract is the next one up for negotiation.

You can reach News-Times reporter Marcie Miller at mmiller@whidbeynewstimes.com or call 675-6611

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