Public Hearing on Supt. Davino's Contract Tonight at BOE Meeting

Tonight's Board of Education meeting will include a public hearing concerning Springfield School's Superintendent Michael Davino's contract.

Davino's current contract will not expire until 2012. The School Board is proposing to end the contract in order to enact into a new one that will extend until 2015.

Board member Jackie Shanes, who chairs the Board's Negotiations Committee, said that the board and Davino mutually agreed to the contract negotiation. She said the Board entered the contract renegotiating to "preserve continuity."

In February, a rule capping school superintendent salaries at $175,000 takes effect throughout New Jersey. Several school districts have tried to renegotiate their Superintendent contracts before then, notably Parsipanny and . Superintendents in municipalities throughout the state have retired in response to the cap.

In 2009, Davino earned $169,582; Shanes noted that he is one of the lowest paid Superintendents in Union County. Shanes declined to say what Davino would earn under the new contract, but noted that he would pay an increased share of healthcare costs.

The new contract terms would have to be approved by the Union County's County Executive Superintendent of Schools.