The raises approved don’t amount to a large sum of money, but the pay increases granted to some administrators of the Butler County Vocational-Technical School probably — and deservedly — are raising some taxpayer eyebrows.

So should another action of the school’s joint operating committee, which is made up of school directors from the vo-tech’s seven member districts: Butler, Karns City, Mars, Moniteau, Seneca Valley, Slippery Rock and South Butler.

Meriting taxpayer disapproval are the 5- to 7-percent raises granted to several vo-tech administrators at a time when schools in Pennsylvania are having financial difficulties, and when the inflation rate is reported to be under 3 percent.

Butler School Board member Jim Keffalas, who has a seat on the vo-tech operating committee, was the only one to vote against the raises, mainly because of the raises that are well above the inflation rate.

That was commendable, even though a lot of money wasn’t at stake. In these tough economic times, every dollar counts.

The same can be said regarding another operating committee decision — the approval of $1,000 bonuses to accompany the 3 percent raises granted to Nicholas Colonello, who heads the school’s maintenance, and Barbara Wagner, administrative assistant.

While both appear to do an excellent job and might warrant extra notice and plaudits, the fact is that both were hired to do a good job and should not receive extra compensation for doing so.

Money from taxpayers — many of them hard-pressed in dealing with financial challenges in their own households — should never be used for excesses beyond the vo-tech’s necessary spending.

And, the bonuses do amount to excess, since the two employees have been merely working to the best of their ability.

It’s one thing for private businesses and industries to grant bonuses, based on their profit experiences; it’s another when money from taxpayers — people of all economic circumstances — is used for an unnecessary expenditure.

The operating committee should steer clear of such extras in the future.

The vo-tech school is producing many student success stories, based on the opportunities that exist there. From the standpoint of finances, the operating committee should not undermine the school, even in small ways.