OXFORD – SAD 17 directors unanimously voted to extend School Superintendent Mark Eastman’s contract by one year after giving him a “high five” for job performance.

“We’re extremely fortunate to have such a competent superintendent,” Chairman Ron Kugell said of the veteran administrator who has overseen the district for the past 13 years.

Kugell said the overwhelmingly favorable evaluation process conducted in executive session Monday night resulted in the board’s vote to extend the contract until June 30, 2010. Under state law, a superintendent’s contract, which runs through June 30, 2009, can only be extended by one year.

It is designed that way, Kugell said, to allow a superintendent the opportunity to leave within a reasonable time table should he wish to.

Directors unanimously approved the superintendent’s $100,000 salary and benefits package for this school year earlier this month. Eastman’s has not asked for a salary increase for the past four years. Although the evaluation is generally conducted prior to the salary negotiations, time constraints prevented that this year.

“The superintendent scored high in all areas. That’s very unusual,” Kugell said of the formal evaluation process in which each board member evaluated the superintendent on a scale of zero to five, five being the highest, in 25 categories.

The categories range from keeping the board fully aware about school operations to maintaining good relationships with local government leaders, conducting employee relations skillfully and maintaining effective working relationships with the state Department of Education.

The majority of the respondents gave Eastman a five, which means the statement is “always true,” in all the categories, Kugell said.

“I’m very pleased with it,” Eastman said. The superintendent said not only was he pleased with the high scores but some of the goals that board members suggested he continue investigating including exploring collaborations with other schools in education and other areas.

The written evaluation form is passed along to the chairman of the Personnel Committee for review and compilation, before it is presented to the school board in executive session.

By state law, the superintendent’s contract has to be acted on by December and forwarded to the Department of Education commissioner’s office for certification.

“It serves as a tool for improvement, not to criticize,” Kugell explained of the process that has been in place for at least 15 years but has been modified over the years to meet the changing needs of the district.

The board and superintendent are in the process of goal setting. Eastman will review his own progress on the goals that are based on standards set by the superintendent and board members.

“This year is the same as last year,” Kugell said of Eastman’s high performance rating. “It really becomes easy. He’s not slacked off. He’s not losing any steam so it becomes a less involved process. When he retires it will probably be a longer process.”

While Eastman, 62, has not specifically stated when he might retire it is well known, Kugell said, that retirement is in the not far off.

Eastman said he told the board last year that he will see the district through the consolidation process, which was projected at that point to be this year and one more year.

“Beyond that I hadn’t made up my mind,” he said.

“I’ve been here since 1961 and I’ve never seen a better superintendent. We’d like to keep him as long as we can,” Kugell said.