SOUTH KINGSTOWN — Eight years ago Robert Hicks gave the School Committee four reasons why they should hire him.

Locally, it was a bad time. The schools budget was in the red and administrators were fleeing the district –– 25 in five years.

Hicks, then superintendent of the Exeter-West Greenwich school system, told officials he valued four things: teamwork, managing money, an open-door policy and quality education.

He got the job.

Today he is the highest-paid superintendent in the region. In 2006, the 58-year-old administrator earned $122,926, making him the top school wage earner in both South County and the local district.

Since his arrival, he says, administrative turnover has slowed. More important, the district boasts a budget surplus at a time when officials elsewhere are padlocking buildings and laying off teachers.

The once-troubled School Department is now one of the best-paying in the area.

Consider:

In 2006, South Kingstown High School principal Robert B. McCarthy earned $106,695, making him the highest-paid principal in South County and the second-highest-paid district employee after Hicks.

The 44-year-old McCarthy grew up in New England, taught social studies and English in Los Angeles, and was a principal in East Greenwich before coming to South Kingstown. The key to the job, McCarthy said, is balancing high state expectations with public demands. E-mails, Web sites and newspapers have made his job “much more public than it used to be,” he said. “We all have to recognize the reason we got involved. We enjoy working with kids.”

Asst. Supt. Mary E. Kelley, who made $105,750, was the third-highest wage-earner in the school district.

And Crandall Dimock was the highest-paid teacher in the region. Dimock earned $93,030 at South Kingstown High School while also serving as science department chairman, Hicks said. Locally, Dimock ranked eighth on the district’s top 10 list.

The Journal compiled the list of top-paid employees as part of a statewide look at school and municipal payrolls during calendar year 2006. Figures were given to the newspaper by local school and town officials.

The Journal’s compilation looked at the total gross pay, which is the total amount paid to employees before taxes are deducted. It does not include the cost of benefits, but it does include base salary or wages, and other forms of income, such as overtime, stipends and severance packages.

Six of the top earners were principals.

After McCarthy, the highest-paid principal was Michele Humbyrd, at Curtis Corner Middle School. The 52-year-old administrator earned $97,059 in 2006.

Humbyrd spends most days visiting classrooms, which means she’s in her office late doing paperwork. That can mean a 12-hour day. “My philosophy can be summed up this way: Whatever it takes.”

At Broad Rock Middle School, principal Sheila A. Sullivan also arrives early and stays late. Sullivan, who earned $94,555 in 2006, yesterday grabbed a microphone and greeted a group of eighth-graders in the cafeteria at the start of the day.

“Hey, Justin, how’s life, pal?” she asked a student chomping on an apple.

“You need to stay focused” and make sure you read 25 books before the end of the school year, she told the group. Back in her office, she used an intercom system to quote British philosopher John Stuart Mill.

A teacher in 1976, the self-proclaimed math geek (a poster of Einstein hangs on one wall) said her goal hasn’t changed in 32 years. “Children are always open to new ideas and new adventures. Our goal is to enable each child to reach his or her potential.”

To accomplish that, teachers and administrators work evenings, weekends and even summers, she said. “You have to love this.”

Former athletic director Robert S. Cavanagh, who earned $94,220 in 2006, retired last year. He was athletic director for 20 years.

pdavis@projo.com