Austin ISD Superintendent Paul Cruz sits in his Sixth Street office Feb. 4.[/caption]

The Austin ISD board of trustees voted to approve a salary increase and evaluation for Superintendent Paul Cruz on Monday night, with board President Kendall Pace lauding the superintendent for his efforts to close equity gaps and increase success rates.

“Our superintendent is an engaging, people-oriented person who places value in investing time and effort to build positive internal and external relationships,” Pace said. “He has worked to build positive relationships with the community, business and educational leaders and favorable perception of the district has increased under his leadership.”

Under Cruz’s leadership AISD saw an 89.7 percent graduation rate, the highest in recent history. Cruz also exceeded the required 60 percent rating on his scorecard indicators, which included improvement measures and statewide accountability, college readiness, and organizational effectiveness.

AISD is made up of 130 campuses, 12,000 employees, and 83,000 students, of which more than 60 percent are economically disadvantaged, 27 percent are English language learners, and 10 percent require special education, Pace said.

The motion to approve the superintendent’s evaluation passed with an 8-0-1 vote; trustee Edmund Gordon abstained. The board's additional vote to approve a 4 percent salary increase for Cruz will increase his annual base salary from $294,000 to $306,363. His health insurance benefits will also increase. The motion passed with a 6-0-3 vote; Trustees Gordon, Pace and Yasmin Wagner abstained.