Roberts: Expedite school superintendent contract audits

ROBERTS: EXPEDITE SCHOOL SUPER CONTRACT AUDITS
Speaker Says County Superintendents Should Review Benefits Pacts In Every District

(TRENTON) - Assembly Speaker Joseph J. Roberts, Jr. today said executive county superintendents should undertake expedited audits of the pay and benefits packages in every administrative contract in every school district in New Jersey.

Roberts commended Governor Jon S. Corzine, Education Commissioner Lucille Davy, and Attorney General Anne Milgram for responding quickly and working to nullify the $740,000-plus payout due to the outgoing Keansburg school superintendent. The Speaker further applauded Davy for axing the contract of the new Plainfield superintendent that would have provided a $198,000 annual salary in addition to paid travel, relocation expenses, and an unused sick-leave buy-back.

"The administration has acted quickly to squash these over-the-top benefits packages, but superintendents in the former Abbott districts may not be the only ones who have negotiated themselves platinum parachutes," said Roberts (D-Camden). "Executive county superintendents already have the authority to veto over-the-top new contracts for local superintendents. They also should have the ability to audit existing contracts to expose any excessive property taxpayer-paid-for benefits."

The Governor is requiring education officials to audit superintendent contracts in each of the states 616 school districts.

Roberts said while Commissioner Davy and her team work to ensure the validity of contracts in the special needs districts, executive county superintendents should similarly assure local taxpayers that they are not overpaying for school administration or will be left footing the bill for a sweetheart retirement deal.

"An over-the-top superintendent contract is just as likely to exist in the wealthiest school district as it is in the poorest," said Roberts. "The bottom line is that all of these contracts are paid-for by taxpayers. If we want to ensure that taxpayers are not getting fleeced by unfair contracts, we must look critically at every school district."

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