Jim Thorpe Area School District’s superintendent is starting off 2023 with a pay raise.

The district’s board of directors on Wednesday night voted to bump Robert Presley’s salary from $122,000 to $135,000 in a move that surprised the first-year Olympian leader.

“I want to thank the board,” Presley said in the moments after the vote. “I did not know this was coming and I certainly hope I can live up to it.”

Presley was hired near the end of June after the board opted not to renew John Rushefski’s expiring contract. He was held by his previous employer, Riverside Junior-Senior High School in Lackawanna County, for a month and started full-time at Jim Thorpe in August.

“In the six months Mr. Presley has been with the Jim Thorpe Area School District, the majority of board members have been monitoring his performance,” Board President Scott Pompa said. “Needless to say, he impressed members of the board with his ability to get the work done.”

During the interview process, Pompa said, all candidates were aware of the board’s desire to “keep the students and taxpayer in mind, work toward reducing out of control spending and improving our education system.”

“Mr. Presley came out on top, was hired by the board and has to this day lived to the expectations laid out in the interview process,” Pompa added. “Several board members believed the salary was low and the work he completed, and his commitment to the district, is exceptional. As a result, the increase was presented, and a salary increase approved unanimously bringing him within range of the previous superintendent and local districts of equal size.”

Neighboring Lehighton Area School District also hired a new superintendent, Dr. Christina Fish, last year at a salary of $132,500.

According to Presley’s contract, he was set to receive a 3% salary increase on July 1 of each year unless he received an “unsatisfactory” or “needs improvement” rating on his annual performance assessment. The board, however, does reserve the right to adjust his salary at any other time during the life of the contract.

Presley, Pompa said, walked into a mess of unsettled business when he took the job in August.

Unknown to the board at the time of hire, there were several reports required by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, which the district had not submitted by the deadline of June 30.

They included Pennsylvania Information Management System, transportation and healthy and safety plan reports.

The mandated reports, Pompa added, were overdue and upon Presley’s first week of work in August he was notified by the state the reports were late and a hard deadline to get them submitted.

“Mr. Presley dove in and diligently worked toward completing the reports and satisfying the requirements set forth and cleaned this mess up,” Pompa said.

Presley’s desire to move the district forward, Pompa said, has been evident.

“He is rolling out plans working closely with administrators to improve our education system and achiever higher outcomes in standardized testing,” Pompa said. “He communicates effectively with administration as well with board members and continues to build on these relationships. Another positive note is his commitment to fiscal responsibility, which is important and a priority of the current board.”

Since Presley has come on board, office positions within the business office were consolidated, resulting in considerable savings to the district, according to Pompa.

“We remain confident we have found the Leader who will work hard toward the improvement of our education system while keeping the students in mind and the fiscal responsibility to garner the need to control spending,” he said.