Greenville County Schools extends superintendent's contract to 2023

Ariel Gilreath | The Greenville News

School board members have extended the Greenville County superintendent's contract to 2023 after conducting his yearly evaluation.

Burke Royster has been superintendent of Greenville County Schools, South Carolina's largest school district, since 2012.

Along with a contract extension, the district is also contributing an additional 1% to Royster's annuity, increasing it from 19% of his salary to 20%.

Royster's salary is currently $272,354 — an overall increase of $57,354 from his original salary set in 2012. Royster's salary increases at the same time as other staff when the district increases employee pay in its general fund budget.

In a statement sent out after the evaluation, board Chairwoman Lynda Leventis-Wells said Royster's positive evaluation was based on six criteria: instructional leadership; quality personnel; culture of achievement; organizational, operational and resource management; communications and community relationships; and Tone from the Top.

Leventis-Wells said the first five goals come from the district's strategic plan, while Tone from the Top is an initiative that focuses on ethical behavior and the effectiveness of the administration.

"The Board of Trustees completed your annual evaluation on Nov. 11, 2019, and determined your service over the past year to be exemplary as a whole and to be highly effective across all categories of the evaluation," Leventis-Wells said to Royster in the statement.

One of Royster's biggest initiatives as superintendent has been Graduation Plus, which is a plan to have students graduate with either industry certifications or college credit. Since Royster became superintendent in 2012, the district's graduation rate has jumped from 72.4% to 85.1%.