With positive evaluation, Superintendent gets 2 percent raise
The School Committee narrowly approved a two percent raise in Superintendent Dr. Kimberly Shaver-Hood’s salary after she received a “proficient average” rating from the group.
The committee voted three to two Wednesday night to support the raise, which was part of a previously determined vote as to the amount Shaver-Hood’s salary could be raised following her first evaluation.
When the committee hired Shaver-Hood in June of 2013, each committee member submitted a suggested pay raise to follow her first full year and subsequent review. According to Chairman Cliff Sylvia, the committee approved a window of between one and three percent, with an average of two percent coming from the committee’s five voters. Following recent individual evaluations from the group and a “consolidated report” that consisted of a summary of the evaluations, Sylvia recommended a raise of two percent, as it was the average.
Committee members Melvin Lazarus and Michael Flaherty opposed Sylvia’s recommendation, with Lazarus making a motion to raise Shaver-Hood’s salary one percent, which Flaherty seconded.
“With all due respect, (I have) a philosophical problem with giving a raise that is higher than given to other administration and general staff,” said Lazarus, who also voiced displeasure with the state’s process. “We are required by law to make this evaluation a public event. I strongly disagree with this practice of public evaluation.”
In Massachusetts, superintendents are required to undergo an evaluation from a district’s school committee, with the results to be read in public. Pay raises are then based off the public evaluations.
Shaver-Hood received a “proficient average” in each of four categories—instructional leadership, management and operation, family and community engagement, and professional culture—and received at least an “average point total” of 85 percent in each category, according to Sylvia.
Because she was recently hired, she did not apply for the other portion of the evaluation, which measures a superintendent’s progress in relation to previously stated goals.
Overall, the group’s evaluations praised the work of the Shaver-Hood in the year-plus she’s been in the district.
“I’m extremely pleased with what's been achieved in this last year under Dr. Shaver-Hood’s leadership,” said committee member Rhonda Veugen. “I hope the community continues to embrace the superintendent.”
The two percent raise will be retroactive to the start of the 2014-15 school year. Shaver-Hood’s initial salary, when hired, was $150,000 per year. She is currently in a three-year contract.