WW-P parents received unexpected news in the middle of spring break: Superintendent Victoria Kniewel plans to resign. At the March 27 Board of Education meeting Board President Hemant Marathe announced that Kniewel intends to resign at the end of the school year in June. Kniewel has accepted a position as superintendent of schools for a public school district outside the state.
Marathe praised Kniewel for her work in the district: “Dr. Kniewel has led the district with distinction through some challenging times. She has helped to put into place structures that will help us realize the mission statement of the district. I would like to thank the superintendent for her valuable contributions.”
In an interview Marathe said, “We are very sad to see her leave. We knew we would lose her at the end of her contract in June, 2015, but we had hoped to have Dr. Kniewel for another two years. But she has been offered a great opportunity, and I understand why she is leaving. When the state passed the legislation capping superintendents’ salaries, her salary is essentially capped for life as long as she stays in New Jersey.”
In 2011 the state Commissioner of Education enacted a regulation capping public superintendents’ salaries, based on the number of students in their districts. The regulation, now before the state supreme court, has been upheld on appeal.
“This legislation has put New Jersey at a competitive disadvantage,” Marathe said. “Every school district will be impacted in the next few years. A five-year contract is the longest term allowed, so once a superintendent reaches the end of the contract, they will likely leave. I understand the state’s intent, but they imposed an arbitrary cap without considering all of the ramifications. It affects not only their salaries, but their pensions as well. The cap is only on superintendents and no one else — not principals; not even assistant and deputy superintendents. Their salaries can end up being higher than the superintendent’s salary, so why would anyone choose to be a superintendent? The legislation was a little short-sighted.
“Dr. Kniewel’s salary was set at $192,500 in 2011. Her salary was frozen for several years and she voluntarily chose to have 1.5 percent of her salary paid toward her health benefits, so her salary was even lower. Now, because of the legislation, her salary will be capped even lower, [at $175,000, plus a $2,500 stipend because there is a high school in the district]. She manages a staff of nearly 900 people, in a school district with approximately 9,800 students, 10 schools, in two towns and counties. She attends two to three nighttime meetings a week as well. She has a great deal of responsibility in a very challenging school district.”
By comparison, Princeton Superintendent Judith Wilson, who also announced she will be resigning this year, makes $220,000 a year. The Princeton district is much smaller: there are roughly 3,500 students in the district with four elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school, all located close to each other; and the student body, while diverse, is more homogeneous than that of WW-P. Because the Princeton district is so much smaller, Wilson’s salary would have been capped at $165,000. If the WW-P student population were only slightly larger (10,000 or more students), Kniewel would have been exempt from any salary cap at all.
The board will discuss the search for a new superintendent at an upcoming closed session. “We have to consider all of the ramifications and what is best for us,” said Marathe. “We even have to figure out who will be the interim superintendent in the event that we have not selected a replacement by the end of June. In Princeton, they announced they would hire a consultant to conduct a nation-wide search. But in reality, it will be very challenging to attract non-New Jersey candidates because of the salary cap. So even if we call it a national search, in reality our candidates will likely come from New Jersey.”
The search that led to the appointment of Kniewel in 2007 included three finalists from within the district. Kniewel had been WW-P’s assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction before being named to the top post. Her salary when she was first hired as superintendent was $179,000 — $4,000 above the current cap.
“I would like to make a plea to the governor and the state legislature to take a hard look at what is happening in Mercer County — we are losing excellent superintendents because of this law. This will happen in other districts as well. Please consider what this is doing to the competitiveness of New Jersey’s school districts, and how much it is hurting our students,” he said.
In addition to Kniewel’s resignation, the board also accepted the resignations of Carol Meulener, supervisor of world language K-12; Todd Amiet, assistant director, buildings and grounds; and Theresa Robinovitz, special education teacher.
The board also approved the hiring of two consultants: a special services consultant from ASL Interpreter Referral Service to provide a sign language interpreter at a rate of $80 per hour/per interpreter (2.5 hours per day) from March 18 to August 9, 2013, not to exceed $17,000; and West Windsor resident Missy Pirrera of GID Consulting as the community education consultant, to conduct a needs assessment for Community Education at $60 per hour — not to exceed 90 hours.
In other personnel news, the search for a new principal for Grover Middle School has been reopened. From a list of 77 potential candidates, eight were selected as semi-finalists, and four finalists were reviewed by a group of administrators, teachers, and parents. The district did not make a final selection, however, but instead has reopened the process and will begin considering applications.
Larry Shanok, assistant superintendent of finance, gave the final presentation on the proposed 2013-’14 school budget. Though the budget presentation was virtually the same as the ones given by Shanok at previous Board meetings, he did provide more details.
The addition to Village School was explained in greater detail: it will include six classrooms, as well as additional special education and guidance classrooms and offices; community education offices and multipurpose rooms; and all administration offices, which are now located across the street from Dutch Neck Elementary. “This addition will help alleviate many of our space needs across the district,” he said.
Shanok also provided the tax impact numbers for each town. For Plainsboro residents living in a home assessed at $385,500, the budget would result in a decrease of $6; for West Windsor residents living in an average home, assessed at $522,864, the budget would result in a decrease of $68.
Finally, Shanok mentioned notable upcoming Board events. “The interim reorganization meeting will be held on April 30, as already scheduled. After this year, the next one will be held in January, 2014. And the election of Board members will take place on November 5. Anyone interested in running for the board must contact the county; the board has no control over the elections, and telling a board member of your intent to run will do absolutely nothing. Potential candidates must notify their county officials.”
There were no public comments on the budget, which passed bya 6-0 vote. Board members Dana Krug, Michele Kaish, and Rachelle Feldman Hurwitz were absent because of the holidays.
Board member Anthony Fleres presented the finance committee report. “Under the Affordable Care Act, we need to consider how we utilize part-time employees,” Fleres said. “They are capped at 30 hours per individual, not per job or assignment. We will have to monitor our use of part-time employees to make sure we are in compliance with the law. This may bring additional cost to the district — we will either have to pay overtime, or have to hire additional part-time employees to remain in compliance.”
Fleres also mentioned another potential state law that would have an impact on the district. “There is a bill making its way through the state legislature that has already passed the senate regarding outsourcing school services. WW-P currently contracts out our food services and custodial services. Under the new legislation, school districts would be required to negotiate with the unions before contracting out any services and would also have to wait until the completion of any contracts.
“Another segment of this bill involves the counties. They would be authorized to set up county-wide school services. And districts located in counties that have county-wide school services would be required to use those contractors, even if the district deemed the contractors to be unsatisfactory or deficient,” said Fleres. “I leave it to the public to determine whether this is a good law or a bad one, and to contact their state legislators accordingly.”
