The Bismarck School District's top three administrators will get performance pay packages as part of new employment contracts.

Superintendent Paul Johnson and assistant superintendents John Salwei and Fran Rodenburg will get additional pay based on the percentage of students making adequate yearly progress and presenting a preliminary budget that has a 3.5 percent cap on increasing district operating expenses. The Bismarck School Board approved the contracts at its meeting Monday.

"It's easier to implement with a position like mine than with 850 classroom teachers," Superintendent Paul Johnson said by phone Tuesday.

The performance pay incentives are a pilot project for future performance pay packages for other employee groups, he said. Teachers could prove to be a more complex group for which to create such a pay package. Other districts in the country have tried performance pay, such as Denver Public Schools, where pay is based on student achievement.

Teacher pay is part of a salary schedule that is negotiated every two years, and it is based on years of experience and educational attainment. If a teacher is national board certified, he or she receives more money, Johnson said.

Johnson could receive up to $8,000, based on 2007 North Dakota State Assessment scores. The amount he receives is based on the percent of proficient math and reading scores. He would receive the full amount only if all math and reading scores were proficient. Salwei and Rodenburg will receive up to $5,500, based on proficient scores on the state assessment test.

Johnson could receive $4,000 if he presents a preliminary budget by May 1, 2008, for the next school year that has an increase of no more than 3.5 percent in operating expenses, excluding capital improvements; and the presentation also should include a detail of the central administration budget, including job descriptions and program expenditures. The budget and the presentation would have to meet the "satisfaction of the school board"in order for Johnson to receive the bonus. For Salwei and Rodenburg, the amount is $2,500 each for presenting a budget with a 3.5 percent increase.

The superintendent's salary will be $156,000 for the 2007-08 school year and $163,020 for the 2008-09 school year, and he received a two-year contract. The final year of his last two-year contract was for $150,000. Salwei was offered a one-year contract at $114,163 and Rodenburg was offered an 11-month contract at $91,699.

The board also approved purchasing 1.95 acres of land east of Prairie Rose Elementary School for $25,000. The district could consider selling some of its land west of the school. Johnson said.

An architect could be hired to design an elementary school that would fit on property already owned by the district. The district already has locations that are suitable for an elementary school, but the board has not yet selected a site, Johnson said.

"It's a year earlier than I expected," Johnson said about the planning.

The board also will consider the North Dakota School Board Association's policy on sex offenders in creating its own policy at an upcoming school board meeting.

The next school board meeting is 5:15 p.m. Sept. 24.

(Reach reporter Sara Kincaid at 250-8251 or sara.kincaid@;bismarcktribune.com.)