A 2 percent salary increase has been approved for members of non-bargaining units in the Freehold Regional High School District. The exception to the salary increases will be the district’s assistant superintendents, who will have their pay frozen for another year.
The salary increases were approved by the FRHSD Board of Education on July 25 during a meeting at the district’s administrative offices in Englishtown.
Board members Heshy Moses of Freehold Borough, Jennifer Sutera of Manalapan, Elizabeth Canario of Englishtown, Maryanne Tomazic of Freehold Township, and Kathie Lavin of Farmingdale voted yes to the raises.
Board members Ron Lawson and Bill Bruno, both of Howell, were present, but did not vote for on items concerning certain employees who were listed on the agenda, because their spouses are employed by the district.
Bruno could not vote on items regarding Assistant Superintendent Donna Evangelista, Assistant Superintendent Suzanne Koegler, and employees Jeffrey Moore and Joseph Robinson.
Lawson could not vote on Business Administrator Sean Boyce, Koegler, and employees James Byrnes and Patrick Lagravenis.
Board members Carl Accettola, of Colts Neck, and Michael Messinger, of Marlboro, voted no on the motion for the salary increases.
Prior to casting his vote on the motion to increase the salaries of certain employees, Messinger noted that many private-sector companies are still laying off employees during a difficult economy.
“If we look at somebody (i.e., an FRHSD employee) who has job security, has a good job, has really good benefits and your salary stays the same, that’s like getting a raise these days compared to a lot of people in the private sector,” Messinger said.
Accettola agreed with Messinger’s comments and said he thought it was a better idea to save the money that was going to be paid out in raises in order to ensure the same level of teaching staff and no reductions.
Moses, a retired teacher and coach at Freehold High School, Freehold Borough, acknowledged that his vote in favor of the salary increase would likely be unpopular, butMoses said he did not “begrudge people getting their due.”
“I never could understand the reasoning behind [the idea that] because airplane pilots didn’t get a raise, therefore teachers shouldn’t get a raise, or administrators,” Moses said .
Members of the public who spoke on the matter commended the salary freeze that remains in place for the district’s four assistant superintendents.
Resident Leon Sirulnick of Manalapan said it was wrong for the board to approve a salary increase for people who are already bringing home a paycheck when there are still so many people unemployed or accepting pay cuts. He suggested taking the money that was earmarked for the employee raises and donating it to the Samaritan Center, a local food pantry.
Sirulnick said he resented the idea of granting raises to certain individuals just because those employees now have to pay more for their health benefits.
FRHSD Superintendent of Schools Charles Sampson said the members of the non-bargaining units were still working at the same rate of pay they had in July 2009. He said no one he knows in the FRHSD has objected to having to pay more toward the cost of their health benefits.
“As a father of four, I have no problem paying for my health care … there has not been any individual at the board office who has come to me and said [paying more for benefits] was unfair in some manner,” Sampson said.
Resident Gloria Close of Manalapan questioned a longevity payment that is included in most of the assistant superintendents’ contracts. Close said it was her understanding that the longevity pay would still be awarded even if an individual’s base salary is frozen.
Sampson explained that longevity pay is no longer an option in contracts. Any individual who has not received it yet will never receive longevity, he said.
Business Administrator Sean Boyce furthered the explanation, stating that while his previous contract contained the terminology for longevity pay, because he had not yet received any longevity pay, that item has since been removed from his contract with the FRHSD.