Summit, Westfield School Boards Weather Budget Process — Almost

Despite the controversy over Gov. Chris Christie's salary cap for every superintendent in the state, Westfield and Summit got their 2011-2012 school budgets approved last week. But the hard work isn't finished. 

Former Union County Superintendent Carmen Centuolo denied the boards' attempts to grandfather new contracts before the salary cap went into effect. Westfield is presently appealing the decision for Superintendent Margaret Dolan's pact, while Summit's superintendent, Dr. Nathan Parker, will work next year under his existing contract. Centuolo was not reappointed by Christie in January.

Christie has also proposed a change in state law to allow non-educators, including business executives to become schools superintendents. This would be in line with the practice used in big city school systems over the last decade, including the appointment of publishing executive Cathie Black as New York City schools chancellor late last year. It is unclear the process that Christie would implement in New Jersey. Black and her two immediate predecessors, attorneys Joel Klein and Harold Levy, were required to seek waivers from the New York state education commissioner due to their lack of a state superintendent's license and formal training. Non-educators have also helmed the school systems in Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Washington, DC.

In other area districts, Christie's very public fight to cut salaries for superintendents has gotten especially contentious. In nearby Parsippany, Christie forced the Morris County superintendent to enforce the salary cap or deny the district's proposed budget.

But in towns like Summit, Westfield and Chatham, the standoff has been less dramatic. Here are snapshots of how Summit and Westfield stand among other towns.

Summit

Board of Education President Jack Lyness said the $228,124 salary approved by the board for Superintendent Dr. Nathan Parker was denied by the county superintendent.

Parker is being paid $228,124 for the current school year and will be paid a 2.5 percent increase of $233,827 for the final year of his existing contract. Parker, who only joined the district two years ago, earned $222,560 for the 2009-2010  school year, the third-most of any Union County Superintendent, and ranked 25th among the state's 616 superintendents,  according the Asbury Park Press DataUniverse database. He holds a doctorate from Columbia University.

The new contract would have provided him with a 0 to 2 percent possible annual raise, based on the superintendent's annual evaluation and the Board of Education's "judgment as to the financial conditions in the district at that time." The contract also included 27 vacation days and 50 sick days.

The Board of Education approved the contract in January in hopes of extending Parker's tenure in Summit before the salary cap came into effect Feb. 7. For a school in Summit's size bracket of 3,000 students or more, the salary cap would be $165,000. A performance bonus would be allowable in addition to the salary cap but would not be factored into a superintendent's pension.

The Board of School Estimate approved the district's $62,847,741 budget, which includes a budget-to-budget increase of zero percent, Tuesday night. Summit is a Type I district therefore the school budget does not need voter approval. The Board of School Estimate is comprised of two Board of Education members, the mayor and two sitting members of Common Council. Summit also has a $1.15 million deserve fund to cover an additional expence related to the contract or other emergency expenditures. 

Westfield

While the BOE's appeal against the overturning of Dolan's new contract continues, the Westfield Board of Education  8-1 on Tuesday, a 1.3 percent raise over last year's budget. BOE President Julia Walker said the budget sets Dolan's salary at $167,500 for the 2011-2012 school year.  In November, the BOE ratified a new five-year contract with Dolan, which froze her salary at $195,000 for two years, before raising it to $205,000 in the 2014-15 school year.

Walker said the superintendent salary appropriation contains money to pay for Dolan's merit pay increase under the cap, which is 14.9 percent of Dolan's annual salary. Walker said this was done based on the recommendation of Joseph Passiment, the acting county executive schools superintendent.

"It means that the Board of Education built the budget using the laws that existed on Feb. 7," Walker said. "This is what we were allowed to do to make sure state aid was protected."

Dolan's new contract was vetoed in December by Centuolo for going above Gov. Chris Christie's proposed salary cap for superintendents. The BOE and Dolan appealed the decision to the state Department of Education, a case which is pending. Dolan's current contract, which expires in June, has her salary at $195,000.

"There is still litigation ongoing," Walker said.

Walker, the BOE finance committee chairwoman, said she was not sure where in the budget the $3,300 would come from to fund Dolan's salary should the appeal be successful. The budget, which has to be approved by voters on April 27, contains a reserve fund of $1.8 million, which can be used for emergency spending, including Dolan's salary or other unexpected expenses such as a boiler explosion.

The proposed Westfield budget includes a 2 percent tax increase and no program cuts. BOE member Mitch Slater voted against the spending plan, citing concerns he had with how the budget process was conducted and the lack of asking the teachers union for a salary decrease. The district still has a reserve fund of $1.8 million.

Parsippany

In Morris County, County Superintendent Kathleen Serafino went to great lengths to require the Parsippany School District to comply with the salary cap or else their budget would be not approved. On March 25, governor's office spokesman Michael Drewniak said in an emailed statement that because Serafino cut LeRoy Seitz's salary by $2,642 and then approved the budget, the district's spending plan "is now in compliance with the governor's salary cap regulations." 

Christie had previously also threatened to withhold state funding from the township unless it rescinded the Seitz contract.

Serafino approved the district's budget in March with Seitz's salary at $175,000—the limit for school administrators in districts the size of Parsippany—along with an additional $2,500 for overseeing a second high school and a 15 percent merit increase for the 2011-12 school year.

T for Seitz. The $16,000 difference between Seitz's $220,000 salary for next school year and his line item salary was put in a reserve account, pending the result of litigation. But the board attorney Mark Tabakin said they still planned to pay him under his new contract, approved in November.

Board of Education member Robert Crawford expressed frustration over the mixed signals from the county and the state. He was also irked by the fact that the line item for Seitz still differs from the $220,000 the board intends to pay Seitz.

"In the real world or the budget world?" he asked.

Chatham

 A similar situation was setting up in nearby Chatham after the Board of Education approved a $210,000 salary for Superintendent Jim O'Neill. Such a battle was avoided when O'Neill announced his retirement in early March.

O'Neill and Long Hill Superintendent Rene Rovtar currently are awaiting a court date for their lawsuit against the State Department of Education, the former and present Acting Commissioners of Education and Morris County Executive Superintendent Kathleen Serafino.

Rovtar and O'Neill are suing on the grounds that the salary caps imposed by the state, which went into effect Feb. 7, are unconstitutional and "a usurpation of the power of the legislature," according to their attorney Maria Lepore.

O'Neill also recently announced he would launch a campaign as a Democrat for state legislature in a Morris County based district. O'Neill cited his opposition to Christie's education reform initiatives as a reason for his candidacy.