Superintendent Michael Martirano will receive the same 1.5 percent pay raise as teachers and other county school employees. However, he will also receive extra vacation days he can cash out at any time, according to a contract amendment.

The school board on July 11 approved the raise and changes to Martirano’s contract, which is in the last year of a four-year agreement.

His salary beginning this fiscal year is $216,985, which includes the $3,200 raise.

Martirano, who has led the school system for seven years, now is given 78 days of annual leave per year, or about 1.5 days per week. He can cash out up to 58 days of unused annual leave per year. He also gets 52 days of sick leave per year, or one day per week. He previously received 53 days of annual and 25 days of sick leave.

The superintendent’s amended contract also grants him 10 vacation days this year, up from five days under his old contract. His car allowance remains at $12,000 annually. “I’m compensated fairly for the job that I do,” he said Tuesday.

Automatic raises are not built in for the superintendent; they must come in the form of addenda to his contract approved by the school board. “The board has to take action separately” from school union negotiations, Martirano said.

His base salary had not gone up since it was set at the beginning of his current contract in mid-2009.

As superintendent of St. Mary's public school system, Martirano oversees about 3,000 employees — including teachers, administrators, substitutes and bus drivers under contract who, in turn, educate and transport 17,000 students.

“I think that our school system does a lot for kids,” Marilyn Crosby, school board vice chair, said when asked if she was satisfied with the superintendent’s performance and his contract.

She said that the different pathways for students put in place over the last several years by the superintendent have tended to the different needs of children.

“I’m just very pleased to be superintendent of St. Mary’s County public schools,” Martirano said. “It’s a great match.”

His second four-year contract will come to an end next summer. “I hope to be working here for many years to come,” Martirano said.

Martirano was the ninth highest paid superintendent in the state, based on a Maryland State Department of Education report in October 2011, the most recent data available.

Superintendent salaries ranged from $122,475 in Dorchester to $314,122 in Baltimore County. The average salary across the state at the time was $198,152 (the median salary was slightly lower at $183,881).

Martirano said that he is now the third longest-serving superintendent among the state’s 24 school jurisdictions.

“It truly matters,” he said of the consistency provided by having a superintendent for an extended period. The national average for a superintendent to serve in a school jurisdiction is about two to three years, he said.

Charles County public schools’ Superintendent James Richmond is in the fourth and final year of his current contract, which stipulates he is paid $289,050 per year. He has announced that he is retiring from the system at the end of this school year after serving as superintendent for 16 years.

Richmond also collects 66 days of vacation time and 24 sick days per year. He can cash out any amount of those days that are unused at any time, according to his contract. He also receives, based on his contract, either a board-owned vehicle to use or a $8,000 vehicle allowance per year.

Calvert public schools’ Superintendent Jack Smith is paid $169,000 per year.

Smith gets 61 days of vacation time and 24 sick days per year, based on his contract. He also receives a board-owned vehicle or $9,600 per year vehicle allowance.

St. Mary’s school employee unions negotiated new contracts earlier this year. They include a 1.5 percent cost of living raise for teachers and staff but forgo step increases for years of service.

jyeatman@somdnews.com