Schools

Board Approves $17K Bonus for Superintendent

Approval was given because Gonzalez met several goals during the 2012-13 school year.

Superintendent Ray Gonzalez will receive a $17,000 merit bonus for meeting key educational objectives for the 2012-13 school year.

The five goals, three quantitative, two qualitative, were approved by the Board of Education in September 2012. The goals are personal ones Gonzalez strove to meet as part of his contract to work in Wayne. They are not district goals.

Linking merit bonuses to personal goals was part of legislation Governor Christie approved in 2011 that limits superintendents’ annual salaries to $175,000.

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Gonzalez’s goals were to:

  • Implement the new state and common core standards, along with all the requirements of the state’s new teacher evaluation initiative, by the deadlines set by the state.
  • Successfully deliver news and academic information to 80 percent of families in the district electronically.
  • Develop a budget that limits administrative costs to 70 percent of the regional limits imposed by the state.
  • The majority of eligible board members also had to give Gonzalez an “achieve” rating in response to if they thought he was making progress towards meeting all of the district’s goals.

The district is waiting to hear from the state whether a fifth goal, which requires the district to receive a satisfactory rating on 85 percent of all Quality Single Accountability Continuum evaluations, has been met. The evaluations assist state officials to in determining the performance of each district.

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Six board members at a meeting Thursday approved giving Gonzalez the bonus. Three trustees abstained from voting. Don Pavlak and Alan Mordkoff abstained because their spouses work in the district. Michael Bubba abstained because he said he was not a member of the board when the goals were established.

Todd Flora, interim executive Passaic County superintendent of education, must approve that the goals have been met.

Board of Education Presidnet Mitch Badiner did not respond to a e-mail for comment.

— Have a question or news tip? Contact editor Daniel Hubbard at Daniel.Hubbard@patch.com or find us on Facebook and Twitter. For news straight to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter.


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