School Board Looks to Fill Asst. Superintendent Spot

After two key administrators  – and – left the district, coupled with the reorganization of the high school’s administration, the North Kingstown School Committee has had a few holes to fill. The biggest one that remains is the assistant superintendent position, Auger took over the position of superintendent this past month following the .

Auger came before the committee Tuesday night with a list of qualifications and ideas for the filling the position, sparking some colorful discussion between committee members and the superintendent.

Vice-Chair Richard Welch took issue with the proposed salary – ranging between $114,000 and $119,000 – and pointed to the salaries of the same positions in Barrington and East Greenwich, which were both about $108,000.

“We have a habit in this district of paying more than those two districts and I don’t find that acceptable,” said Welch, who suggested a range of $110,000 to $120,000.

For Auger, weighing North Kingstown against East Greenwich and Barrington was not a fair comparison, pointing to South Kingstown and Westerly (which have larger student populations closer to North Kingstown’s size) as more viable comparisons.

“The size of the population does matter here,” said Auger, who pointed out that North Kingstown still has 1,000 more students than SK and Westerly. “In South Kingstown and Westerly, those assistants make more than this range. This range puts us in the low range of that group.”

Auger explained that he chose the minimum salary based on the $113,000 salary of the next highest paid administrator – North Kingstown High School’s principal Thomas Kenworthy.

“I think it would be appropriate to have this person make more than a principal,” said Chair Kimberly Page, who also noted that – since she took office five years ago – the position of assistant superintendent has grown to include duties of three positions that have since been scrapped.

In the end, the committee unanimously decided to pass the job description and salary 5-0. (Lynda Avanzato and Larry Ceresi were absent from Tuesday's night's meeting.)

A New Roof for DMS?

North Kingstown’s budget outlook for next year isn’t the only thing that’s looking a bit bleak. According to a survey, ’s roof is on the verge of failure – imminent failure, to be exact.

The committee voted unanimously to request that the remaining $1.95 million in bonds approved in 2004 for capital improvement be appropriated to cover the cost of the project.

NK: Number One in the State for SAT Test Takers

A $49, four-hour-long standardized test taken on a Saturday morning may deter many students. Not for North Kingstown High School, which saw the most amount of students take Standardized Aptitude Test (SAT) than any other high school in the state.

This past year, 319 NKHS students took the SAT – up from 253 last year.  Overall, NKHS students ranked third in the state for reading and writing and seventh in the state for math.

Though Barrington and East Greenwich, two district’s school officials often compare North Kingstown to, scored slightly higher, Auger says the statistics may not be telling the whole story as North Kingstown has a more diverse socioeconomic population.

“This district is maybe over performing in terms of socioeconomic status,” he said. “And that’s something to be proud of.”