Cherokee County Superintendent Dr. Bill James and assistant superintendent Dr. Linda Sellars are the only district employees making 6- figure salaries.

James saw his salary increase from $124,808 to $128,939 annually when all district employees, including administrators, received the state's 3.31 percent raise in this year's $58.6 million school budget. Sellars will earn $101,829 as the assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction.

This is the first year that another district employee besides the school superintendent has earned more than $100,000 annually.

Four other administrators will make a salary above $90,000 for the 2007-2008 school year.

They are Ewing Middle School Principal Denise Wooten, Cherokee Technology Center Director Harold Talley, Limestone Learning Center Director Rance Cobb and assistant superintendent Andy Jones.

Gaffney High athletic director and football coach Phil Strickland will make $83,144, just a dollar less than Blacksburg High Principal Jim Touchberry. Blacksburg High athletic director and football coach Robbie Blanton will make $65,587.

These were among the highlights from the salary information released Friday by the Cherokee County School District in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed by The Gaffney Ledger.

Jones will earn $94,805 after the district changed his title from chief administrative officer to assistant superintendent for administrative services. In June, trustees approved a $5,400 raise for Jones to compensate him for his additional duties supervising the maintenance department and other operations.

Wooten will earn $93,894 in her first year as a school principal. Cobb and Talley will be paid $92,571 annually.

Gaffney High Principal Marlene Davis will receive a salary of $87,159.

The Gaffney Ledger received a partial list of Cherokee County School District employees who will earn more than $50,000 annually this school year. A total of 86 employees appear on the list.

In a letter responding to the FOIA request, finance director Ben Childs noted the list is only for the district employees who have already started their contract for this school year.

"The listing represents only 12- month employees and employees at the district's three year-round elementary schools, Alma, Luther Vaughan and Mary Bramlett," Childs wrote.

"A complete listing of individuals who are scheduled to receive more than $50,000 in compensation will be available in late August once teachers and all staff members have returned to the district."

Davis and Talley are also in their first year as school principals.

Years of experience, education degree and responsibilities are among the determining factors in how salaries in public education are set.

Salaries and benefits account for 85 to 90 percent of all expenses in the state's 86 school district budgets, according to figures from the state Department of Education.

Luther Vaughan Elementary Principal Dr. Ron Cope, a former school superintendent in Missouri, will receive a salary of $89,266.

After she retired this spring, Northwest Elementary Principal Cathy Curry Bloise re-applied for the position to return as the school's principal. She is one of several principals who make $77,410 annually.