Lawsuit Filed Against Superintendent Pay Caps

The outcome of a lawsuit filed by the association representing New Jersey schools superintendents against caps on school leaders’ pay is in the hands of the judicial system—and the outcome could go either way, Hillsborough District Superintendent Jorden Schiff said.

“These suits will explore the timing and method used by the Executive County Superintendent (ECS) to approve local superintendent’s contracts that had compensation above the cap amount,” Schiff said in an e-mail.

The association representing New Jersey school superintendents is looking to block Gov. Chris Christie's plan to cap school leaders' pay, with a lawsuit filed in Morris County last week.

The suit names Morris County Executive Superintendent Kathleen Serafino, Acting Commissioner of Education Rochelle Hendricks and the state Department of Education as the defendants. It claims the state has no authority to interfere with school board decisions about administrator pay, and says the salary caps are illegal.

New Jersey legislative law “specifically vest[s] the authority to fix salaries for school superintendents with the boards of education,” reads the complaint, filed by the New Jersey Association of School Administrators along with two Morris County school superintendents.

Under a plan put forth by Gov Chris Christie last year, and set to take effect Feb. 7, most school districts could pay their top officials no more than $175,000 per year—the same salary the governor makes. Salary caps are set on a scale by district population; smaller districts would have lower ceilings for superintendent pay.

Under the plan, districts with 250 or fewer students would have a salary cap of $125,000 annually, districts with 251 to 750 students would have a $135,000 annual cap, districts with 751 to 1,500 students would have a $145,000 cap, districts with 1,501 to 3,000 students would have a $155,000 cap, districts with 3,001 to 6,500 students would have a $165,000 cap and districts with 6,501 to 10,000 students would have a $175,000 pay cap.  Districts with more than 10,000 students could apply to the State Education Commissioner for a waiver of the $175,000 salary cap.

Hillsborough has about 7,500 students and would fit into the highest cap bracket.

District superintendent contracts typically go to county executive superintendents for review. But on Nov. 15, Hendricks ordered Serafino and other county executive superintendents to hold off on approving any such contracts that exceed the cap—even though the cap hasn't yet taken effect.

Hendricks told each county executive superintendent to conduct a “comprehensive review" of any contracts. Until the reviews are completed, she said, no new contracts should be approved.

"Gov. and acting Commissioner Hendricks are saying no and working with county executive superintendents to stop these abuses that come at the expense of New Jersey children and restoring fiscal sanity by bringing school superintendents’ salaries under control," the state Department of Education said in a press release issued in December.

"Acting Commissioner Hendricks has directed the executive county superintendents not to approve any contract extensions for superintendents whose current contracts expire after Feb. 7, 2011 unless they are consistent with the salary cap that will take effect on that date. "The suit contends that direction was illegal.

"The acting commissioner does not have the authority to tell county executive superintendents not to approve the contracts," said Maria M. Lepore, chief counsel for the New Jersey Association of School Administrators. "Refusal to approve the contracts is contrary to New Jersey constitutional law."

Hendricks' directive came after Parsippany's school board submitted a contract with its own superintendent's salary well above the cap, and Christie publicly singled out that school district as an example of why reform is needed.

Also joining the suit directly are Chatham school Superintendent Jim O’Neill and Long Hill Township schools Superintendent Dr. Renee Rovtar, who say Hendricks specifically had no right to block their own contract approvals.

But the challenge for districts and board of education could be attracting superintendents who can receive higher salaries elsewhere.

 “Each local board of education will need to decide how to attract and keep quality leadership in its district given the salary caps,” Schiff said.  “The Hillsborough Board of Education and I agreed to a compensation package that was within the cap.  Both the board and I are very pleased with the arrangement and look forward to working with each other.”

In other districts, experienced superintendents will be forced to take a substantial pay decrease which may lead to some superintendents retiring early, leaving for better paying positions in other states, or leaving the profession for other opportunities in the private sector,” he added. 

“This flight of experienced superintendents may have negative consequences for districts and may, unfortunately, have a negative impact on student achievement.  Only time will tell.”