$250K-Plus Salaries For Chatham Superintendent, Principals

CHATHAM, NJ — It's becoming more common for superintendents, principals, and educational administrators state-wide to earn more than $150,000 including in Chatham, according to data from the New Jersey Department of Education.

Patch pulled salary data that includes superintendents, principals and assistant principals, curriculum directors and other employees in administrative positions within New Jersey schools.

Overall, more than 3,200 administrators made $150,000 or more during the 2022-23 school year — about 600 more than the year prior.

• Read more: These Are The Highest Paid School Administrators In NJ: New Data

In Morris County, Superintendent of the West Morris Regional High School District Michael Ben-David topped the list of earners with a salary of $254,383 followed by the Morris Hills Regional School District's Superintendent James Jencarelli with $253,893.

The highest earner for the School District of the Chathams was Superintendent Michael LaSusa, who earned a salary of $252,788 in the last year.

Here are the top earners in Chatham's school administration, along with their current or most recent position and most recent salary. All data comes from the New Jersey Department of Education:

1. Michael LaSusa: Superintendent, $252,788
2. Peter Daquila: Business Administrator/Board Secretary, $187,652
3. Emily Sortino: Assistant Superintendent of Student Support Services, $179,200
4. Jill Gihorski: Principal at Chatham Middle School, $177,263
5. Douglas Walker: Principal at Chatham High School, $170,607
6. Mary Donohue: Assistant Superintendent, $170,000
7. Cheryl Russo: Principal at Lafayette Avenue School, $167,689
8. Nicholas Andreazza, Principal at Milton Avenue School, $165,989
9. Lori Gironda: Assistant Principal at Chatham High School, $163,640
10. Kristine Dudlo: Principal at Washington Avenue School, $158,439
11. Peter Trebour: Assistant Principal at Chatham Middle School, $157,274
12. Marco Freyre: Principal at Southern Boulevard School, $156,325
13. Sean Devine: Chatham Middle School/Chatham High School Assistant Principal, $156,138

Why NJ School-Administrator Salaries Are Rising

Former Governor Chris Christie imposed a $175,000 salary cap for superintendents in 2011. In 2017, the Christie administration increased the maximum base pay for superintendents to $191,584.

Then, in 2019, Gov. Phil Murphy signed legislation that repealed the salary cap for superintendents while also establishing guidelines for school-executive contracts to limit or standardize bonuses and other perks.

School executive pay has long been a controversial subject in both local school district budgeting and state policy. Some of the state's highest-paid administrators received five-digit raises last year. But when the position's pay was capped, many districts struggled to maintain experienced superintendents, according to a 2019 analysis from NJ Spotlight.

Superintendents, principals and other school leaders throughout the nation have faced intense scrutiny for COVID-19 management and from politically charged movements to overhaul or eliminate certain subjects and topics from the curriculum. But those obstacles have also fallen to teachers and other rank-and-file school employees. And the pandemic exacerbated New Jersey's shortage of teaching candidates.

With reporting from Michelle Rotuno-Johnson/Patch staff.