By 8:30 a.m. he was shaking hands with business partners and higher education officials leaving the meeting. By 9, he was helping students tweak presentations for a state competition. By 10, four hours into his day, the Jordan Applied Technology Center's West Jordan campus principal finally had five minutes to step into his office to take stock of the phone calls he had missed.

At that point, Quarnberg had at least nine more hours to go.

"This campus is running until 10 o'clock at night," Quarnberg said. "Who's responsible for the campus until then? I am, and my staff."

Quarnberg loves his job, but like the jobs of many school principals, it's all-consuming. And it's a job that can seem thankless in a year like this one where legislators crossed school administrators off the list of educators to receive guaranteed $1,700 raises. Teachers, speech pathologists, librarians and other categories of educators will get the raises, just like last year, but not necessarily school administrators. Though educators are grateful for the teacher raises, some worry the omission could mean even more trouble for some school districts already struggling to attract principals.

"[Principals] are extremely valuable and we are therefore offended they were cut from receiving the $1,700 pay increase," Carl Boyington, of the Utah Association of Secondary School Principals wrote in a recent letter to legislators.

Rep. Gage Froerer, R-Huntsville, said lawmakers intended for school districts to give principals raises with help from a 2.5 percent increase in per-pupil spending statewide.

Some districts will be able to give principals raises with that additional money, but others will not, largely because of rising insurance costs. Some districts that might not be able to give principals raises - such as rural districts - are the same ones already struggling to attract leaders.

"We almost have to bribe or beg our existing principals to apply for high school [principal] jobs," said Brent Thorne, Sevier School District superintendent. "It will be a very difficult year."

A difficult job

Thorne said rising insurance costs will mostly eat up the 2.5 percent increase in per-pupil money from the state that might have gone to administrators or classified employees.

The Washington School District also won't likely be able to give principals raises, said Lyle Cox, the district's human resources director.

"Teachers are very deserving of the money . . . but I think they've missed the opportunity to show administrators they're valued as well," Cox said. "It's a huge sacrifice and commitment in terms of time."

Cox said recently when the district sought to hire a new high school principal, only two qualified candidates applied.

"My heart sunk," Cox said.

Like Quarnberg, many high school principals work from dawn until dusk, overseeing all the financial, academic and emotional parts of the school.

"I really love being the principal," said Rick H. Palmer, principal at Pine View High School in the Washington district. "I'm just worn down."

In fact, after 15 years in administration, Palmer has decided to return to teaching after this school year. He said his job has become exhausting.

For one, it's difficult to keep up with extracurricular activities, which Palmer feels he should attend to show support for students. Second, Palmer said parents have become increasingly involved - in both good and bad ways.

Finally, Palmer is tired of dealing with government decisions. No Child Left Behind has created more work for schools over the past six years. And though Palmer decided to return to teaching before legislators met this year, decisions such as not giving principals raises wear on him. "I really do believe [legislators] mean well and are trying to do what's best for kids, but a lot of times they don't see the big picture."

A matter of principle

Not all districts will suffer because of lawmakers' decision not to give principals raises.

Some districts have plenty of applicants for principal positions. And officials from districts such as Alpine and Tooele have said they still hope to give their administrators raises even if the Legislature didn't.

Still, principals across the state feel slighted by the Legislature's decision. They say it's not about the money; it's the principle.

"It kind of says we aren't valued," said Luana Searle, of the Utah Association of Elementary School Principals.

Some principals worry lawmakers see them only as bureaucrats. In reality, principals' jobs are complex.

"We deal with students every day," said Nancy Sorensen, principal at Manila Elementary School and president of the state elementary principal association.

Principals take on diverse duties. Ridgeline Elementary Principal Ken Higgins spent about 600 minutes on his cell phone in a couple of days this year after students were snowed in at the school overnight. Palmer once had to turn away a parent who tried to bribe him into firing a coach.

Quarnberg will soon travel overnight with his students for a state competition. His students say he's the heart of the school.

"We feel like he's just one of the teachers," said senior Michael Terry. "He knows all of our names. To me, that's really important."

Froerer said lawmakers take principals' jobs seriously.

"It really comes down to an issue of we don't have unlimited funds," Froerer said. With that in mind, lawmakers prioritized paying teachers more to better retain and attract them, Froerer said.

He said lawmakers felt $1,700 would make a bigger difference to a starting teacher than to an administrator. Last year the average Utah teacher made $37,775 and the average school administrator made $67,784, according to the Utah State Office of Education.

State principals acknowledge they're not hurting financially the same way teachers are, though they say they work many more hours than most teachers. And in Utah, shortages of principals aren't as severe as teacher shortages though they, like teachers, face high student-to-administrator ratios.

In fact, principals are thrilled teachers got raises this year. They just wish they hadn't been excluded.

Last year, 11 categories of educators received the raise. This year, school administrators were the only one of those categories axed.

"It sends a pretty clear message there's very little value in what we're able to accomplish," Quarnberg said. "Everybody likes to be recognized for work well done."

lschencker@sltrib.com