CANTON — Administrators in the Canton Central School District will receive 2 percent annual salary hikes under a new two-year contract agreement approved by the school board.

A $5,000 salary increase for Banford Elementary Principal Joseph D. McDonough also is included in the pact between the district and its Administrators Association.

The agreement is retroactive to July 1 and expires June 30, 2014.

The 2 percent salary increase and extra $5,000 will increase Mr. McDonough’s salary from $71,750 to $78,285.

School Superintendent William A. Gregory said Mr. McDonough’s salary was adjusted for several reasons. The district is moving fourth grade from McKenney Middle School to Banford Elementary, which will significantly increase his responsibilities.

Also, he said, Mr. McDonough is the lowest-paid principal within the 18 school districts in the St. Lawrence-Lewis Board of Cooperative Educational Services.

“Even with this adjustment, he will still be the lowest paid principal in the BOCES despite having more students and faculty and staff to supervise, similar or more experience and greater responsibilities than many of his colleagues,” Mr. Gregory said in an email.

Mr. McDonough has served as elementary principal since July 1, 2010, starting the job at a $70,000 salary. Before that he served two years as the district’s dean of students.

“He has done an excellent job as Banford’s educational leader, and we would like to keep him here in that capacity rather than losing him to another school system,” Mr. Gregory said.

School Board President Barbara B. Beekman agreed.

“This is a reflection of the job he’s doing and the responsibilities he has,” she said.

A search for a new elementary principal is under way at neighboring Edwards-Knox Central School, Russell.

Under the new contract, administrators will continue to contribute 10 percent toward their health insurance premiums. Besides Mr. McDonough, the Administrators Association represents high school Principal Mark T. Passamonte, middle school Principal Jennifer W. Rurak and Special Programs Administrator Michele Meyers.

District officials are in the process of negotiating a new contract agreement with the Canton Central Teachers Association.

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