$150K-Plus Salaries For Lawrence Superintendent, Principals, Admins

LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ — School administrators in New Jersey are among the highest-paid in the country and it comes as no surprise they make upwards of $150,000.

The state Department of Education recently released data that showed over 3,200 administrators made $150,000 or more during the 2022-23 school year — an increase after 2,556 did so the year prior.

This also includes 11 members from the Lawrence school district.

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

The highest-paid Superintendent in New Jersey is Leigh Byron, of Trenton Stem-To-Civics charter school who makes $384,000 a year. David Aderhold, of the West Windsor-Plainsboro School District also makes the top 20 list, taking home $262,551 a year.

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

1. Ross Kasun, Superintendent, $240,894
2. Tom Eldridge, Business Administrator/Board Secretary, $219,011
3. Linda Mithaug, Director of Student Services, $186,202
4. Rajneet Goomer, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum & Instruction, $175,000
5. Jay Billy, Principal - Ben Franklin Elementary, $174,900
6. David Adam, Principal - Lawrence High School, $174,763
7. Sean Fry, Director of Personnel and Administrative Services, $170,113
8. Mindy Milavsky, Principal - Lawrence Middle School, $168,905
9. Clifford Williams, Asst. Principal - Lawrence High School, $165,255
10. Melissa Lockett, Principal - Lawrenceville Elementary School, $154,699
11. Alyson Fischer, Principal - Lawrence Intermediate School, $154,532

Why Are School Administrator Salaries Rising?

Back in 2011, then-Gov. Chris Christie implemented a $175,000 cap for superintendents. The Christie administration raised the maximum base pay for superintendents to $191,584 in 2017.

Then in 2019, Gov. Phil Murphy signed a law that eliminated the cap for superintendent salaries but set 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. While administrative salaries are often a flashpoint for criticism in school policy, many districts struggled to maintain experienced superintendents when the position's pay was capped, 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 New Jersey has faced a shortage of teaching candidates that preceded the pandemic.

(With reporting from Michelle Rotuno-Johnson, Patch Staff)

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