(ABC 6 News) — At Tuesday’s RPS School Board meeting, the board voted unanimously to approve a subsequent contract for Superintendent Dr. Kent Pekel.

Pekel’s current contract was set to expire on June 30, 2025.

According to a press release from RPS, Dr. Pekel’s contract includes tax-sheltered annuity with a matching contribution, vacation days and paid holidays, 25 days of vacation annually, accrual of sick leave days, bereavement leave days, monthly automobile allowance, and health, dental, life, and long-term disability insurance.

Dr. Pekel’s annual salaries will be as follows:

• $242,000 for 2025-26
• $252,000 for 2026-27
• $262,000 for 2027-28

“We are grateful to have had Dr. Pekel’s leadership the past several years and look forward to seeing how Rochester Public Schools will grow and how student experiences and outcomes will be enhanced under his leadership,” says Cathy Nathan, School Board chair, via a press release. “As was evidenced by his receiving the University of Minnesota’s College of Education and Human Development Distinguished Alumni Award just last week, his work and leadership are recognized beyond our community, and we want to retain his talent in Rochester.”

The new contract goes into effect Tuesday, July 1, 2025, and will runs until June 30, 2028.

Pekel’s contract along with other salaries, will be funded by the referendum which was passed on election night, according to board members.

The raises to Pekel’s salary are to keep up with inflation and raises of other employees in the district, the board’s chair said.

“What we really tried to do is align his increase with the increase that some of our other employee groups, like our teachers, were getting,” Nathan said.

If the referendum had not passed, Nathan said the parameters of the contract may have been re-examined, but keeping Pekel in the district was always a priority.

“His value is worth far more than what we can pay him in a salary or what we can give him in benefits,” Nathan said.