What one school committee member called “extreme turnover” at the tri-town schools’ head office may be due to uncompetitive salaries and an abundance of meetings.

The administrative office lost two business administrators in the past two years as well as a technology director who resigned in the spring.

“I hope that if there is something that can be done, that we dig deep because it is critical to have a consistent staff,” said Mattapoisett School Committee member James Muse.

The conversation broke out during an evaluation of Superintendent Doug White by the Joint School Committee.

With the loss of the business administrator in the fall, White stepped in to cover many of the responsibilities of the job.

Earlier in the year, White acknowledged that the added work had kept him from being in classrooms and interacting with teachers, which was one of five goals set for the school year.

At the meeting, members discussed researching the salaries of administrative staff at other school districts to compare with that of the tri-town.

“Digging deep is possibly what we may want to do,” said Joseph Scott of Marion.

Michelle Cusolito, a former Rochester committee member, agreed.

“We need to pay them appropriately. I don’t think that we’re doing that appropriately now," she said.

Scott also said the number of school committee meetings that administrators are expected to attend might be contributing to the high turnover rate.

Since Marion, Mattapoisett and Rochester are each separate school districts, as is Old Rochester Regional Junior High and High School, there are four monthly school committee meetings in the tri-town. Joint School Committee also meets quarterly.

Christine Marcolini of Marion questioned if the meetings could be streamlined.

“Is there a way to make it a little less unwieldy?” she said.

The committee members said they will continue the discussion in the future.