Editorial - March 2003

Extend pay for assistant principals

March 3, 2003 - We already know Lincoln County has to do a better job of recruiting teachers and good pay is essential to that task. The issue of local supplements to teacher salaries is an obvious concern, but special attention should be given to the salaries of the assistant principals. According to information presented last week at a school board budget meeting, the county’s assistant principals are currently paid for just 10 months of employment even though they spend closer to 12 months working at their schools. Some of the assistant principals’ summer duties include working with new teachers, meeting with school improvement teams and setting up class lists, just to name a few. It’s a time-consuming task that takes up most of their summer. Yet they only get paid for 10 months.

The issue also affects the school system’s ability to retain good assistant principals.

“Every year, we have lost an assistant principal that we didn’t want to lose, and it boiled down to economics,” Superintendent Jim Watson said.

Lincoln is the only system in the immediate area that does not at least partly extend employment for some assistant principals beyond the school year. The more generous school systems include Gaston, Hickory, Newton-Conover, Cleveland, Shelby, Charlotte/Meckenburg and Mooresville.

School Board committee members agreed to recommend $2.07 million in new budget items to the full board, including the extra employment for assistant principals. Some of the other items on that list are a new art teacher; maintenance technicians and repair materials for the new schools; and additional funding to further supplement teacher salaries.

We urge the full board to consider expanding the pay schedule for assistant principals. It’s an issue of fairness as well as recruiting.

© 2001 Lincoln Times-News  

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