By MELISSA PEACOCK

RESERVE – They deal with students, angry parents and central office staff. They are accountable to the Superintendent, to the St. John the Baptist School Board and to the residents of St. John Parish.

Being a school principal can be a high-stress job.

Local principals may soon be rewarded for their work with in the parish’s public schools.

Superintendent Michael Coburn recently introduced a plan to the St. John the Baptist School Board to give principals a raise in salary. The School Board is expected to vote on the proposal in November.

During the 2001-02 school year, the average annual salary for a principal was nearly $61,000. The average annual salary for assistant principals was $51,409.

Parish teachers and assistant principals received raises last year that increased their ranks to the top 10 highest teacher/assistant principal salaries in the state. Local teachers are now ninth in the state in terms of pay. Assistant principal salaries rose from 12th place to around ninth place.

While teachers and assistant principals climbed in ranking, principals’ salaries remained 14th in their category.

“This move will put them at nine or 10 in the state,” Coburn said.

If approved, the adjusted salary schedules will eliminate elementary principal salary. The junior high principal salary schedule will apply to K-8 principals. About $3,500 will be added to the K-8 principal salary as a result of the change.

The salary raise for high school principals will depend on school size. A high school principal with less than 1,000 students could see a raise of about $4,000. A high school principal with more than 1,000 students could receive as much as $6,000.

Redirection principals with less than 250 students will have about $1,000 added to their salaries.

Funds are available for the raise, Coburn said. The new School Board legal reconfiguration will save the school district about $19,000. An additional $26,000 is coming from an investment and all monies are reoccurring in the budget without taking from the general funds.

The proposed change has already been introduced to Personnel and the Finance Committee and both have voted to approve the plan.

Not everyone is happy about the proposed changes in principal salaries. Coburn said there are a lot of individuals working for the school system who would like to see increases in salaries for all of its employees. Those changes, he said, will come in time.

“When I was selected for superintendent, the School Board was notified that I wanted teachers, assistant principals and principals (salaries) in the top 10,” Coburn said. “When I get done, I am going to work on the central office.”

Increases in pay have been credited with attracting a high-quality staff. The increase in salaries, Coburn said, is to reward principals for their increasing responsibilities under the district’s accountability policy.