New Contract For Toms River Superintendent On School Board Agenda

TOMS RIVER, NJ — The Toms River Regional Board of Education is set to potentially approve a new contract for Superintendent David Healy at Tuesday's school board meeting.

It's a move that has not been received with open arms. It has been criticized in various social media forums as poorly timed because of the financial crush the district has faced. The district is squeezed on one side by a property tax base that is still limping to recovery five years after Superstorm Sandy and squeezed on the other by state legislators who stripped the district of funding (later restored) at the beginning of this school year and that is could be stripped again for the 2018-19 school year.

The move to reopen Healy's contract comes after Gov. Chris Christie enacted a measure in May raising the state's salary cap on school superintendents' pay. The salary caps put in place five years ago had led to complaints from school districts about qualified administrators leaving New Jersey for higher-salaried jobs elsewhere.

Healy was hired in April 2014 with a five-year contract that pays him a base salary of $198,000. The contract, which was due to expire June 30, 2019, includes clauses that provide for merit bonuses yearly of up to 5 percent of his salary, which amounts to $9,900. That contract included a $10,000 stipend for overseeing the Seaside Park school district, which at the time was sending all of its elementary school students to Toms River schools. Those students now attend Lavallette Elementary School.

The new contract, if approved Tuesday night, would apply retroactively to July 1, 2017 and run through June 30, 2022. It would pay Healy a base salary of $203,000 for this school year and 2018-19, with 2 percent pay raises for the 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years, increasing his base salary to $215,425 at the end of the contract. The new contract also includes the same merit bonus clauses allowing for a bonus of up to 5 percent of his base salary, and his car allowance has been increased to $400 for the year from $300.

It has been a chaotic year for the school district, with Healy accused of sexual harassment by a staff member in the school district and the accusations released anonymously to several media outlets including the Patch. The release of that information — and, according to board president Ben Giovine and board attorney Stephan Leone, other leaks of confidential information — led to a probe by a private investigator. That has cost the district more than $20,000, according to an Asbury Park Press report. There also have been public disputes among school board members that erupted into an argument at a board meeting.

The district and Healy have spoken with pride of efforts to improve the district and work to bring in outside funding in terms of grants, including being one of two school districts in the country to receive Big Read grants from the National Endowment for the Arts. The district also was honored as the organization of the year by the Greater Toms River Area Chamber of Commerce.

The board meeting is scheduled to start at 7 p.m.

Toms River Superintendent David Healy, photo by Karen Wall, Patch staff