PRINCETON: Wilson facing $57,000 pay cut decision

By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
   Princeton Superintendent Judith A. Wilson must decide whether she wants to continue leading the school district after her contract expires in the summer of 2014, and take a pay cut of more than $57,000 to do so.
   One factor in that decision is her willingness — or not — to accept the pay cut as a result of a state-imposed salary cap for superintendents that would apply to any new contract. The cap has affected school leaders around the state, sparked lawsuits and contributed in recent years to a massive turnover in the leadership of school districts.
   The most that Ms. Wilson’s future salary could be is $167,500, a $57,390 drop in pay compared to the $224,890 she is making this school year. She and the school board are expected to discuss her future sooner rather than later, although Ms. Wilson felt it premature to talk about the matter now.
   ”It’s too early,” she said Wednesday when asked about the issue. “That discussion hasn’t happened yet.”
   School Board President Timothy Quinn said Monday that the board does not know what Ms. Wilson’s plans are. Her contract is due to expire at the end of June 2014. By law, school boards must give superintendents a one-year notice if they do not plan to renew their contracts. She must give the district four months’ notice if she plans to leave.
   Mr. Quinn said that in the coming months he thinks the full board will meet with her in closed session — which are meetings the public cannot attend. Afterward, he said, the board would announce an outcome. Mr. Quinn said his preference is that she stay.
   For the past two years, superintendent contracts in New Jersey have been tied to a district’s enrollment; the fewer students, the lower the salary and vice versa. The move, proposed in 2010 by then acting-Commissioner of Education Rochelle Hendricks as part of a fiscal accountability push, took effect the following February.
   On the low end, superintendents in districts of 250 students or fewer can earn a maximum salary of $125,000, according to the New Jersey School Boards Association. On the high end, they can earn up to $175,000 in districts of 6,501 to10,000 students. Princeton, home to about 3,500 students, falls in the second from the top category at $165,000.
   The state says, however, that superintendents can earn an extra $2,500 if a high school is located within their district and an extra $10,000 for each additional district they supervise.
   The salary cap sparked lawsuits. The New Jersey Association of School Administrators sued along with three superintendents to throw it out, but a three-judge state appeals court upheld the regulation last October.
   As a school district, Princeton has enjoyed a measure of stability. Ms. Wilson has been at the job since February 2005.
   But across the state, there has been a steady turnover of superintendents; 60 percent of districts have changed leaders in the past two school years, the New Jersey School Boards Association said.
   Mike Yaple, a spokesman for the organization, said Wednesday that nearly half of the turnover is due to retirements, while others have moved on to other districts or even left New Jersey to work in nearby states where they can earn more.
   ”It’s hard to say,” he said when asked if he thought the trend would continue. “One can only hope it will stabilize. You want stability in the front office.”
   That phenomenon is part of what one education expert, a former Montclair superintendent now involved in training a the next generation of school leaders, called the “mixed bag” of the salary cap.
   On the downside, the cap is forcing some older, talented superintendents to leave, said Michael J. Osnato, director of the Leadership Institute at Seton Hall University. They face a major career decision of whether to stay at their current jobs for less money or move on to something else, he said.
   On the other hand, opportunities have opened up for people in their late 30s and early 40s to become superintendents, he said.
   In Ms. Wilson’s case, she has been spared the impact of the cap since she was in the midst of a contract when the cap took effect. Though earning just over $220,000, she did not get a pay raise in 2010, 11 or 12, according to district data. She received a 2 percent hike for the current school year.
   At 56 years old, she has worked enough years for her to retire and collect a pension.
   Ms. Wilson, having risen from a classroom teacher to an administrator, was hired in Princeton in October 2004; she started serving as superintendent the following February. Prior to that, she was the superintendent in Woodbury, Gloucester County.