By Andrew Martins, Managing Editor
A series of goals for the 2016-17 school year in the Hillsborough Township School District could yield a merit bonus of up to 15 percent for Superintendent Jorden Schiff next year if certain criteria are met.
The goals, which were approved by the Board of Education at its meeting on Sept. 26, outline five different areas where actions could be taken by the district to improve its scholastic, logistical and financial situation.
Earlier this year, Dr. Schiff received more than $22,000 in merit bonuses for meeting four out of the five goals he set for the 2015-16 school year. He only partially met the fifth goal.
According to the Hillsborough School District budget, Dr. Schiff earns an annual salary of $177,500, which is the maximum under state law for a district of more than 6,500 students.
Under the first goal, which was previously unmet during the 2015-16 school year, Dr. Schiff is looking to have a 4 percent increase in the language arts performance for grades five and six within the district.
That same increase in language arts performance is also the basis of the second goal, except it is specifically targeting the third- and fourth-grade students at the Woodfern Elementary School.
According to either goal’s criteria, the measures were set due to “multiple years of data analysis” of standardized tests, such as PARCC and NJASK.
In the case of Woodfern Elementary School, that goal was set since data suggests that students there “perform less well than the other elementary schools in the district in both mathematics and language arts.”
In order to meet those goals, Dr. Schiff proposed that “the principal will work closely with teachers and other support professionals to identify areas of focus and attend to the individual learning needs of the children.” District administrators, such as the curriculum supervisor, assistant superintendent and superintendent will also work alongside Woodfern officials to achieve the goal.
Both instances call for the use of “common assessment data” provided by the teaching staff to show whether there was an increase in performance compared to the previous year’s data.
In both instances, Dr. Schiff could receive a 3.33 percent merit bonus to his base salary if student performance exceeds the prescribed four percent increases.
In the event that student performance only improves between 3 and 4 percent, he will receive a 2.22 percent merit bonus. If the increase is just 1 to 2 percent, he will receive a 1.11 percent merit bonus.
At the Sept. 26 Board of Education meeting, secretary of the Hillsborough Education Association and teacher Amy Salinger took issue with the superintendent personally benefiting from teachers’ efforts.
“These common assessments are developed by teachers, administered by teachers and graded by teachers — so the question is, why is the work of teachers being used as a merit goal for our superintendent,” Ms. Salinger asked.
Ms. Salinger also took slight umbrage with a goal dealing with Student Growth Objectives, which are teacher-set goals for student growth and achievement.
“Why is something that is state mandated, a test that all teachers and administrators must complete to keep their job, being used as a merit goal?” she asked.
Under that goal, Dr. Schiff will receive a 2.5 percent merit increase if all of the following criteria are met: “training documents (are) provided during administrators’ professional development on creating rigorous SGOs, mid-year SGO discussions on rigor between the superintendent and each principal (and) samples of 2016-2017 SGO demonstrating rigor.”
The superintendent will only receive a 1.75 percent merit bonus for partial completion of the goal’s criteria.
Dr. Schiff could also receive a 2.5 percent merit bonus for the proper implementation of Performance Matters, “a data warehousing and analytics tool for teachers and administrators to use to identify performance gaps and trends that will inform instructional practices.” Partial completion will yield him a 1.75 percent merit bonus.
Completion of the goal requires that the district provide evidence that administrators and teachers were trained in the program’s use, as well as semi-annual reporting of progress to the Education Committee and the county superintendent of schools.
If the district is able to find a reduction of $50,000 or greater in its next budget, Dr. Schiff could receive a 3.33 percent merit bonus next year. Savings between $30,000 and $49,999 will get him a 2.22 percent bonus, while total savings of between $10,000 and $29,999 will yield a 1.11 percent merit bonus.
