to bring Fyffe
Some take issue with
super’s new contract
Board majority votes
to bring Fyffe’s salary
in line with other districts
By jennifer dome
Staff Writer
A new contract will give Sayreville Superintendent of Schools Dennis Fyffe an $18,000 salary increase starting next year.
The contract was approved by Board of Education members in a 7-2 vote last month, as his previous three-year contract expired June 1, board Vice President Joseph Bera said.
The superintendent’s current salary is $138,000, according to Bera. Next year, he will earn $156,000 as part of the new five-year contract, which was worked out by a Board of Education subcommittee over the past three months.
Board member Kevin Ciak, who voted against the new contract along with Curtis Clark, said the contract includes a jump to a salary of $168,000 during the second year and brings it to $178,000 during the third year. The fourth and fifth years of the contract will be renegotiated after the third year, Ciak said.
Bera said that Fyffe’s new contract brings his salary more in line with those of superintendents in comparable school districts. Previously, Fyffe had a salary at the lower end of the scale, Bera said.
Bera said that he believes the school district was at risk of losing Fyffe, especially since similar school districts have recently shelled out significantly more money for superintendents than Fyffe had been making. For example, West Windsor recently hired a superintendent for $175,000 a year, he said.
Bera said he and others were concerned with the stability of the school district. He said he is pleased that Fyffe will be retained for another five years.
"We’re very happy with his leadership," Bera said.
Ciak also commended Fyffe on his work in the district.
"He’s definitely brought vision and energy to the district," Ciak said. "He’s definitely worth this amount of money."
However he feels about Fyffe’s performance, Ciak said he could not vote in favor of the contract because he "had an issue with the level of compensation" due to the current economy.
Ciak said he felt that with the defeat of the school budget by borough voters earlier this year — followed by the school budget being cut by the Borough Council, and the planned opening of the new upper elementary school next year — the pay increase in the new contract was too much for one year.
Borough residents were originally faced with a 24-cent school tax increase during the school district elections in April. After the proposed budget and a separate question for capital improvement projects was defeated, the Borough Council cut $2 million from the 2003-04 school budget, bringing the tax increase down by 9 cents.
As a result of the budget reduction, the school tax rate will be $1.94, up from $1.79, per $100 of assessed valuation. A resident with a home assessed at the borough average of $138,000 will pay $207 more in school taxes for the coming school year.