The WW-P school board is proposing a five-year contract extension for its highest administrator.
The board revealed the extension during a public hearing on the contracts for Superintendent Victoria Kniewel as well as the district’s three assistant superintendents on May 26. The administrators are not part of a union.
All members of the WW-P district’s central office staff, including the superintendent and assistant superintendents, have agreed to a pay freeze for the upcoming school year, school officials said this month.
The contracts for Larry Shanok, the assistant superintendent for finance, Russell Lazovick, the assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, and David Aderhold, the assistant superintendent for planning and pupil services, expire on June 30, 2011.
Kniewel, whose contract would have also expired on June 30, 2011, has been awarded a four-year contract extension to expire on June 30, 2015.
Kniewel’s salary is frozen for this year at $192,676. “Dr. Kniewel’s salary for the remainder of the term of her contract shall be as determined by the board, but not be less than $192,676 per annum,” the contract states. “The board agrees to review Dr. Kniewel’s salary at the conclusion of each school year of employment, and at least annually thereafter.”
A vote on all four contracts is scheduled for Tuesday, June 15.
During the public hearing on May 25, Kniewel asked that 1.5 percent of her base salary be contributed toward her health insurance costs beginning on Thursday, July 1, rather than waiting until the mandated date of July 1, 2012.
Under a new state law, public employees will be required to contribute 1.5 percent of their base salaries to their healthcare costs when their current contracts expire. A resolution later in the meeting enacting that 1.5 percent contribution for non-union school district employees in the central office was approved, 7-1. The resolution requires those employees to begin paying the 1.5 percent in 2012.
Board president Hemant Marathe said the resolution applied to those outside of the unions, waiving the immediate contribution until 2012, as permitted under the law. The administrators’ contributions will begin at the same time unionized employees would begin paying.
He commended Kniewel for her agreement to begin paying toward her health insurance immediately. “The leadership she has shown is very much appreciated by the school district and should be appreciated by the taxpayers.”
Board member Todd Hochman voted against the move, saying he felt the board could have done better to get the employees to contribute immediately. He also commended Kniewel for already doing so. “I think this is a tremendous gesture,” he said. Still, “we’re cutting staff, we’re raising taxes, and Plainsboro taxpayers are being hit particularly hard this year. It’s time for the board to take a strong stance on health insurance contributions from employees.”
Few residents turned out for the public hearing. As required by law, the WW-P school board held a public hearing on the contracts for the district’s superintendents and assistant superintendents.
Last September, the board approved raises for Kniewel and Shanok. Kniewel’s salary increased by 3.5 percent — from $186,150 in 2008-’09 to $192,676 for the 2009-’10 school year. Shanok’s salary increased to $165,854, up from $160,245 the prior year. Aderhold makes $144,000, while Lazovick has a salary of $137,500. All salaries are frozen.
