The South Orange Maplewood Board of Education approved on Monday a list of Merit Goals that Superintendent Dr. John Ramos will need to meet for the 2016-2017 school year, in order to again be eligible for a merit bonus.
When he was hired in the spring of 2015 at an annual salary of $177,500, the board stipulated that Ramos would be eligible for annual merit bonuses of up to 14.99% of his base salary if he met specific goals including: addressing the district’s issues outlined in the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) resolution agreement; district schools achieving certain ratings on the NJ School Performance Report Card; and ensuring that the district’s Strategic Communication Plan is implemented, among others.
The board voted in October to pay Ramos $23,394.50 out of a possible $26,607 for meeting the goals (see PDF document attached.)
For the 2016-17 school year, the goals set for Ramos include creating a communications plan to engage the community about the Strategic Plan; increasing participation of underrepresented groups in high level classes; providing professional development for teachers, and more.
Here is the full list of goals the board approved:
- Create and implement a communications plan that engages stakeholders in a community-wide dialogue about the strategic action plans prior to their acceptance by the board (G1)
- Budget staffing and materials for 2017-2018 based on assessed needs of students and classrooms, rather than on historical programming (G2)
- Increase participation of traditionally underrepresented demographic groups in higher level (more challenging, academic) courses, comparing 2015-16 to 2016- 17, (official October enrollment data) by 5%. (G3)
- Provide full-day professional development opportunity to a minimum of 96 elementary, 32 middle school and 147 CHS high school teachers, which will build the capacity of teachers by raising awareness, increasing knowledge, and developing skills to counter bias in the classroom; approximately 40% of certified staff will have received training by year end. (G4)
- Increase revenue from tuition and facilities usage by 10% in a manner consistent with the District mission and goals. (G2)
