Raises for Administrators Denied...Barely

By a 3-4 vote, the Board of Education last night denied proposed 1.5% raises to the district's business administrator and assistant superintendent.

Superintendent of Schools Jose Negron proposed the raises and said they were necessary to compensate the employees for having to pay 1.5% of their salaries toward health benefits.  A new state law requires all employees to pay this amount starting July 1st.

The most vocal critic of the proposal, BOE member Debbie Boyle, was incensed.  "I just asked everyone to take a pay freeze," she said.  "And now you want to give out raises to administrators?"

Boyle recently asked the district's bargaining units to take a pay freeze, and she called upon the principals to re-open their contract.

Louise Mruz, president of the South Plainfield Education Association, also harshly criticized the proposal, pointing out that her union's members had just been asked to take a freeze.  In addition, she questioned why the new assistant superintendent would get a raise after only four months on the job.

Mruz also took the board to task for giving out raises after telling the public it had no money and letting go staff just a month ago.    

Negron responded by pointing out that, after the deduction for healthcare, both administrators would actually receive a slight cut in pay. 

Board member Gary Stevenson took issue with this rationale, stating that workers in the private sector don't receive pay hikes when they are told they have to chip in toward their healthcare.

Board members Jim Giannakis, Carol Byrne, Bill Seesselberg, and Steven Bohn voted in favor of the raises, while Boyle, Stevenson, and Sharon Miller voted against them.  The measure required five votes to pass (a majority of the full board).  Board members Pio Pennisi and Chris Hubner were absent. 

According to one board member, the proposal or one like it could resurface when the entire board is there to vote.