Despite its approval at a Human Resources Committee last week, the school board sent back a new policy that establishes starting salary rates for school district principals and assistant principals was sent back for further review.

The proposed policy features pay increments, or “steps,” from zero to five that decide what a prospective principal or assistant principal would make depending on his or her experience. In voting against the policy, board members said its proposed starting figures were too high for initial hiring rates.

“I like the general idea of a salary scale, yes,” board member Dennis Ryder said. “I still say this that this too high for the 0 Stage. You’ve got an uncertified, less than one year experience as a principal, less than three years experience as assistant principal, and you’re going to give them $99,000? That’s wrong. That’s a waste of the taxpayer’s money. You don’t need to give that kind of figure to a person that isn’t qualified.”

If approved, the draft policy would have seen assistant principals candidates who are not certified and with less than one year of experience as an assistant principal or principal and less than ten years of experience in education paid $70,826, if working at an elementary school and $78,588 if working at a secondary school, according to the policy.

An uncertified principal candidate with less than one year of experience as a principal and less than three years of experience as an assistant principal would make $85,380, at a elementary school, $90,231 at a middle school, and $99,933 at a high school, according to the policy.

Salary rates are based on previous experience and would be adjusted based on the years the new principal or assistant principal has been a teacher or assistant principal, according to the policy.

Superintendent Mark Conrad said the salary scale would allow the district to hire individuals with lesser experience if they were deemed qualified. He said other districts’ initial salaries were taken into account as the salary scale was being drafted.

“It really reflects the demand of the situation,” Conrad said. “I would also note that these salary notes are based on looking at comparable districts.”

Board member Elizabeth Van Twuyver said she thought the proposed starting rates for assistant principals and principals was too high, and in some cases, the initial amount competes with the salary of the assistant superintendent.

“I find that these are rather high,” she said of the proposed salary schedule.

Board members William Mosher, Tom Vaughan and David Murotake also expressed concern with the current draft policy.

“We have to be competitive in the marketplace for salaries for high school principals and that’s what you see,” Conrad said.

Though the draft policy has been in the works for several months, the board voted that it be sent back to the Human Resources Committee for review.

Emily Hoyt can be reached at 594-6402 or ehoyt@nashuatelegraph.com.