PBC schools chief given near-perfect evaluation

Palm Beach County Schools Superintendent Robert Avossa will likely get a raise after getting near-perfect evaluations from School Board members.

The board will offer its comments in public on Wednesday during its annual evaluation of Avossa, who earns $325,000 a year.

In a letter to principals on Tuesday, Avossa, who began work in Palm Beach County in 2015, said he still has a lot to learn.

“Some areas of focus for me are building deeper connections with school principals and maintaining open lines of communication for all personnel,” he said. “With a large system, I feel like I’m stretched in many different directions and I miss making important personal connections with you. I’m committed to stay connected with principals by attending more division meetings and increasing my school visits to hear from you and see the great work in our classrooms.”

In February, board members asked Avossa what they needed to do to make sure he stays. He said he wanted a contract that automatically renews, and the same raise received by the district’s administrators.

That increase hasn’t been determined yet. When he started in 2015, Avossa was the highest paid superintendent in Florida, but his salary has since been eclipsed by other South Florida superintendents, including Robert Runcie in Broward, who earns $335,000, and Alberto Carvalho in Miami-Dade, at $345,000.

On his evaluation, Avossa received perfect scores of 4 from Chairman Chuck Shaw and board members Erica Whitfield and Frank Barbieri.

Board member Barbara McQuinn graded him a 3 in student achievement, where she said district students lagged behind the state averages in several categories. Board member Karen Brill gave him a 3 for human resource management; she said she gets complaints that the district advertises jobs for which they already have a desired candidate.

Avossa agreed not to accept a raise last year after the Classroom Teachers Association complained they were not getting similar raises. Teachers were offered a 3.2 percent raise last week.