The South Orange – Maplewood School District will pay newly hired Superintendent Dr. John Ramos an annual salary of $177,500, as well as the opportunity to earn merit pay.
The contract, which can be found here and attached below as a PDF, was released by the office of Business Administrator Cheryl Schneider on Thursday morning.
The SOMSD Board of Education officially approved Ramos’ hiring at its Monday meeting.
Ramos will be earning considerably less than his predecessor, Brian Osborne, who at the time of his resignation from SOMSD in 2014 was making a salary of just over $220,000. However, because of the state’s superintendent pay cap, Osborne was looking at a pay cut of roughly $50,000 when his contract with the district expired in June of that year.
Ramos will be eligible for annual merit bonuses of up to 14.99% of his base salary if he meets 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 district will not be paying Ramos health insurance. The contract allows him to undertake outside professional consulting engagements and activities as long as they do not interfere with his duties as Superintendent.
The contract runs through June of 2020, and can be terminated at any time by mutual agreement, by Ramos with 90 days notice, or by notification in writing by the Board on or before Dec. 31, 2019.
Board of Education President Wayne Eastman told the Village Green Wednesday that as a result of the salary cap, Ramos is “getting a significantly lower salary for us than he received as a superintendent in Connecticut.” Eastman said that Ramos’ willingness to work for less than his previous salary was one of “many reasons” the district hired him.
