Savings on Superintendent Salary Helps to Keep Some Programs Alive

Joseph H. Vicari’s return as superintendent of the Berkeley Township School District may have been controversial, but his insistence on sticking to a minimum salary is providing some positive results.

The Berkeley Township Board of Education voted Thursday night to protect the gifted and talented and Operation Schoolhouse programs for the 2011-2012 school year. And while board members didn’t say exactly how they protected the programs, Vicari said the next day it appears they used the money saved by not paying him a full salary.

“If they hire a superintendent, the health insurance alone is $25,000,” Vicari said.

When Vicari returned to the district on April 1, it was at the state-mandated minimum salary of $18,500 and with no benefits. A superintendent’s salary can run $180,000 or more.

Vicari said his move won’t completely prevent a reduction in staffing, however. Nine positions were slated to be cut in the budget that was defeated by the voters, and while two tenured teachers have been protected, there will still be some positions eliminated. But Vicari hopes most will be eliminated through attrition through  retirements.

“It’s very difficult,” Vicari said. “These are good people.”

Not knowing when people will decide to retire hampers the process, he said.

“It used to be in the contract that they had to notify the district by a certain time," Vicari said.  "Now they can retire at any time.”

In other business, Vicari said district officials were able to remain on a full-day schedule during the extremely hot days this week because all the schools are air-conditioned. The district received numerous calls from parents thanking them for doing so.

“Day care is an issue for folks,” he said. “We make sure it’s as comfortable as possible for our students and staff, and instruction goes on.”

Board President James J. Byrnes said during the June 9 meeting that the Berkeley Township Education Foundation – the nonprofit organization created to raise funds to pay for the annual trip to Stokes for the district’s sixth-graders – is up and running. There are openings for 15 trustees.  The volunteer positions have three-year terms.

Vicari said the district may be monitored by the state Department of Education next year. The state routinely checks school districts on everything class size to the physical conditions of the buildings.

He said he won’t know until August whether the district will be among those monitored.

“We need to be ready," Vicari said. "We have a very high standard and we want to be sure we are maintaining them."