Every year, SeacoastOnline posts an article about Portsmouth High School staff and employees that reach the $100,000 salary milestone. The article also includes a list of every staff members’ salary, which is public knowledge, but the highest paid teachers are emphasized.

This year, 14 Portsmouth School District employees topped $100,000 in 2015-2016, the majority of them being administration. Whether it is a school principal or superintendent, they are the ones getting the highest salaries in the district.

The SeacoastOnline article focused mostly on the employees who were making the most money in the Portsmouth School District, without mentioning their accomplishments and impact on the community and schools.

Two teachers at Portsmouth High School, Ms. Deb Quinn and Mr.Rick Hugener, were interviewed on this topic and given the same focus questions.

How do you feel about your salary being published online?

What do you think the purpose of the Seacoast article was, or was there a purpose in publishing it?

“To make it look like ‘hey, they’re so overpaid, they make so much money,’ so when negotiation time comes around, we make adequate money and there is no need to negotiate and increase the salary,” she stated.

Do you get paid a stipend for extra curricular activities?

“Yes. There are some coaches that coach three teams, so that’s added in there also. I don’t want to use somebody else’s name, but they’re not only class advisor, they do other things as well, and it all adds up.”

Interviewed second was Mr. Rick Hugener, who had a similar response to the articles.

How do you feel about your salary being published online every year?

“We are public employees who are paid by tax money so it’s public knowledge,” said Mr. Hugener. “Does the paper need to post everybody’s? Probably not, but if it gets people to make comments and keeps a story rolling, it could sell papers. If it sells papers and gets interest, then they did their job,” he added.

What do you think the purpose of the article was, or was there a purpose?

“The purpose should be to show what people are making, because we are public employees who get paid with tax money, which is fine, but could also highlight the amount of work, hours inside and outside of school that are put into this job, the education that we all have, and all the extra roles we play outside of the classroom.  We don’t receive quarterly bonuses or get paid overtime for working 60 hour weeks, or at night or the weekends.  I really think the true purpose was them trying to get people annoyed, that ‘What? A teacher makes this much money?’ That gets into a different argument, are we not allowed to earn a living?” he stated.

Ms. Elizabeth Dinan, the writer of the article, has been asked a few questions based on her piece in the SeacoastOnline.

Why weren’t the stipends distinguished in the article?

“We receive the information from the city which does not include any information about stipends.” said Ms. Dinan.

Do you think the article is controversial in any way?

“We do not think it’s controversial. We think it is factual information about how public money is spent. Wages and salaries comprise the largest portion of the city’s budget which is funded by taxpayers” stated to Ms. Dinan.

Why does this need to be published yearly?

“An annual review shows the budget impact of contracts, retirements and promotions,” said Ms. Dinan.

She concluded her e-mail with, “Now my question for you: Did you write these questions?”

SeacoastOnline will continue to publish salaries yearly and rank the top paid employees, and the PaperClip will continue to ask questions.