New contract for Rockville Centre sup't includes salary freeze

In an unexpected development at the end of the Board of Education organizational meeting on July 5, school board President Liz Dion announced that the board and Superintendent Dr. William Johnson had reached agreement on a new four-year contract for Johnson that includes no salary increases and boosts his health care contributions.

In a departure from previous contracts, the new agreement does not contain a so-called “evergreen” clause that automatically renews it at the end of each year.

In a written statement, the school district said that the new contract with Johnson will save it more than $187,000 over the length of its term — more than $45,000 a year. In addition to his unchanging salary and increased health care costs, it also rescinds his ability to buy back unused vacation days. Johnson’s previous contract provided guaranteed annual salary increases of at least 4 percent — though he did not always take them.

The board agreed to give the superintendent early access to $300,000, a lump sum that matched another district’s offer seven years ago and became a retention bonus if Johnson stayed through June 2010. In exchange, he gets no payout for unused, accumulated sick days. The district noted that the fund accrued years ago, so there is no additional taxpayer expense now, and that it does not accrue to Johnson’s pension.

The current contract was negotiated during a time of increased public scrutiny of Long Island school superintendents’ salaries and

benefits.

“In light of the state’s newly enacted property tax cap, the school district has to find ways to flatten our expenses,” said Dion. “I think that Dr. Johnson recognized that and he put the district above his personal interests. It impresses me that he was willing to renegotiate in the middle of a contract.

“Considering that every contract we’ve negotiated in the past two years has contained givebacks, including some period without any salary increase, and increased employee contributions toward health care,” Dion added, “it became apparent that the superintendent’s contract had to be renegotiated.”

Johnson, a highly respected educational leader, has been the superintendent of Rockville Centre schools for 25 years. “His contributions to our district have had an enormous impact on the lives of thousands of Rockville Centre students,” the board said in its press release. “[We look] forward to his continued service and leadership in enhancing the district’s outstanding reputation.

“The board believes this new agreement is good for our district, our students and our community,” the statement added. “Current economic and political circumstances demand an experienced and proven chief executive dedicated to educating our children. The board thanks Dr. Johnson for his leadership, wisdom and continued service to the district.”

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