Committee presses superintendent on accountability, raises and evaluation processes for district administrators

Multiple committee members pressed for clearer policy and transparency around raises and accountability for nonunion administrators in the central office.

Deputy chair and other members asked whether the district has an evaluation process for central-office staff comparable to RIDEmandated systems for principals and teachers. Superintendent Buck said principals are evaluated through RIDE but acknowledged the district lacks a formal, RIDE-backed evaluation for central-office directors and that some earlier local processes had lapsed.

On raises, the superintendent said annual increases for contracted nonunion administrators are often specified up front in multi-year contracts (for example, pre-set percentages over a multi-year term) and that the district attempts to align nonunion compensation with bargaining-unit norms to maintain equity. Committee members suggested creating a policy standardizing contract formats and requiring finance or the full committee review of midyear raises that affect the approved budget.

Chair and members agreed to review existing policy and to consider a standard contract template and procedures for committee review of raise-related decisions. The committee scheduled work on superintendent evaluation procedures and set deadlines for member submissions and a special meeting in August to review the superintendentself-evaluation.