Bremerton School District Superintendent Dr. Aaron Leavell’s contract has been renewed for three years.

The contract will run through June 30, 2017. With that comes a small bump in pay at $2,567 added to his contract for the remaining years. Additionally, he will receive $2,500 extra per year due to his attainment of a doctoral degree.

Leavell’s annual salary starting July 1, 2014, will be $144,067 per year.

Personnel Director Denise Zaske presented the contract to the board for approval on June 19 during the board’s regular meeting.

Zaske told members that there was a “comparison” made to school districts of similar size to see where the difference in pay was between Leavell’s and others’ salaries. The school districts looked at for salary comparison included Central Kitsap, Peninsula, North Mason, North Kitsap, South Kitsap and Bainbridge.

Even with the slight increase, Zaske noted that Leavell still makes $7,702 less than his superintendent counterparts in other districts.

Still, at the end of his contract, Zaske said Leavell “would be at the mid-point (in salary) compared to other districts.”

As per board policy, the superintendent meets with the board to be evaluated twice yearly.

Board members unanimously approved the contract as presented.