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Star-Ledger TRENTON — "The fight over school superintendent salaries continues to roil the Parsippany and Westfield districts, with the first debate already in the court system and the second heading toward a legal fight..."
N.J., local school boards battle over superintendent contracts
Published: Thursday, December 16, 2010, 6:30 AM
Enlarge Keith Chaudruc, left, of Madison, debates Christie after he was invited to come up on stage with him. (Aristide Economopoulos/The Star-Ledger) Gov. Christie holds town hall meeting in Parsippany gallery (14 photos)
TRENTON — The fight over school superintendent salaries continues to roil the Parsippany and Westfield districts, with the first debate already in the court system and the second heading toward a legal fight.
Battle lines are drawn between local school boards, which are pushing for superintendent contracts exceeding an upcoming pay cap, and county education leaders who have sided with Gov. Chris Christie, the cap’s primary advocate.
New rules on superintendent pay — capping salaries at $175,000 for all but the largest school districts, with the possibility of bonuses for strong student performance — go into effect in February. Acting Education Commissioner Rochelle Hendricks has warned county leaders to not approve any new contracts before then.
But the Westfield Board of Education is pushing ahead with a five-year contract for Superintendent Margaret Dolan, which would raise her salary to $205,000 by the fifth year. On Tuesday the board passed a resolution authorizing its attorney to seek approval of the contract from the state Department of Education, defying orders from Union County Executive Superintendent Carmen Centuolo, who wants the contract rescinded.
County executive superintendents, who are state employees, have final say over local superintendent contracts. Westfield board president Julia Walker said Centuolo’s demand to ditch Dolan’s new contract was an "about face," saying she had already approved it through e-mails and phone calls.
LeRoy Seitz, walking out of the Colonia Middle School in this 2000 photo, was awarded a new five-year contract as superintendent of Parsippany's public school district."State statute says that boards of education determine salaries of their district superintendents," Walker said. "The law says we’re supposed to do this, so I consider it our obligation and responsibility."
Walker said dozens of Westfield residents have expressed their support for the board’s efforts to keep Dolan, who has said she will retire if affected by the salary cap. Centuolo’s office referred questions to state officials.
"The governor’s intention is to finally bring some sense of sanity to compensation packages for superintendents that have grown out of control, to allow more resources in the classroom and to protect overburdened taxpayers," said Christie spokesman Kevin Roberts. "We’re surprised that the Westfield Board of Education is so willing to expend so much time and resources merely to circumvent the cap."
A similar fight is going on in Parsippany, which became the first battleground in the debate over superintendent pay. The school board voted last month to extend Superintendent LeRoy Seitz’s contract for five years, paying him an average annual salary of $225,064.
Christie blasted the decision, calling Seitz "the new poster boy for all that’s wrong with the public school system" and saying his new contract "is the definition of greed and arrogance." Afterward, Morris County School Executive Superintendent Kathleen Serafino ordered the board to rescind the contract.
But the board has refused, saying Serafino already gave her approval and filing a lawsuit demanding that Seitz get his contract.
"We believe we acted correctly and within all the rules and regulations," said school board President Anthony Mancuso. "We worked hand in hand with the county superintendent’s office."
On Tuesday the state Attorney General’s Office filed a brief seeking to block the contract extension, saying Serafino never actually approved the contract.
Serafino’s office had sent an e-mail to the board’s attorney on Oct. 29 saying she "will issue a letter of approval (for Seitz’s contract) upon her return from vacation." But the state argues that e-mail does not constitute formal approval.
"At no point did Dr. Serafino advise the board or anyone else that Dr. Seitz’s proposed contract was approved either verbally or in writing and at no point did Dr. Serafino advise the board that she would issue a letter of approval," reads the state’s brief.
By Chris Megerian and Jessica Calefati/The Star-Ledger
