San Benito superintendent given $7,800 raise

SAN BENITO — School board members this week gave Superintendent Antonio Limon a $7,800 raise.

The raise increased his salary to $162,100, said Limon, who has a three-year contract.

“I’m very grateful for the opportunity to work in San Benito,” Limon said. “I work with an excellent board.”

Board President Oscar Medrano said Limon is doing “a great job” in his seventh year as the district’s top administrator.

“He’s a superintendent who gets things done,” Medrano said. “We work very well together and that’s very important. Mr. Limon is a very thorough man in terms of communicating with his staff and works cohesively with the board to take the district to the next level.”

Medrano referred to the district’s goal of boosting its state ranking from a recognized to exemplary district.

“Our goals are to become an exemplary district and if that goal is not reached for some reason then to retain our recognized rating,” Limon said.

The district must boost student TASKS test scores and its “completion rate,” or percentage of graduating seniors who entered as freshmen, Limon said.

The state requires that districts maintain 90 percent passing standards in math, science, writing, reading and social studies to earn exemplary ratings, Limon said. The district has raised its reading, writing and social studies scores into the 90s, but remains in the high 80s in math and science scores, he said.

While the state requires 95 percent completion rates to earn exemplary rankings, the district maintains an 87.9 percent rate, Limon said.