Jersey City Public Schools employee salaries, 2008-2011
This article may not adhere to Ballotpedia's current article guidelines. Please email us at editor@ballotpedia.org to suggest an improvement.
Jersey City Public Schools employee salaries are public records under the New Jersey Open Public Records Act.
Per 2008 U.S. Census data, the state of New Jersey and local governments in the state employed a total of 585,379 people.[1] Of those employees, 465,049 were full-time employees receiving net wages of $2,459,242,541 per month and 120,330 were part-time employees paid $127,908,865 per month.[1] More than 55% of those employees, or 322,868 employees, were in education or higher education.[1]
The following data for Jersey City Public Schools was gathered from the district's April 19, 2011 response to an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request submitted April 13, 2011. The district's custodian of records at the time was Melissa Simmons.[2]
The district does not have records of salaries for Board of Education members, local Superintendents, or the Chief Education Officers or Chief Executive Officers. Additionally, the district was unable to provide data regarding retiring employees, as the district has over 5,000 employees and multiple retirements each year; information was pending as of July 11, 2011 per a refined OPRA request. Information regarding personnel cell phone usage was also pending as of July 11, 2011; the district does maintain records of cell phone use through monthly bills from the carrier. The district does not maintain records of personnel use of district vehicles, but noted that persons assigned district cars for 24-hour use are taxed on the lease value of the vehicle per Internal Revenue Service regulations.[2]
The district provided employee salaries over $150,000 from January 1, 2008, January 1, 2009 and January 1, 2010; records for salaries over $150,000 for January 1, 2011 were not yet available. During this period, there were 12 employees of Jersey City Public Schools who earned more than $150,000 a year.[2]
Salaries and benefits
2008-2009
Seven employees earned more than $150,000 per year for 2008-2009:[2]
| Name | Position | Contract dates | Base annual salary | Annual work days | Annual vacation days | Annual sick days | Annual personal days | Allowances | Bonuses | Retirement plans | Post-employment benefits | Other/in-kind remuneration |
| Dr. Charles Epps, Jr. | Superintendent | 07/01/2008 - 06/30/2011 | $250,700.00 | 240 | 22 | 15 | 0 | $10,101.00 | $0.00 | $10,000.00 | $10,446.00 | $14,812.00 |
| Francis Dooley | Deputy Superintendent | 07/01/2008 - 06/30/2009 | $162,213.00 | 250 | 25 | 13 | 3 | $2,080.00 | $5,300.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $5,925.00 |
| Norma Fernandez | Special Assistant | 07/01/2008 - 06/30/2009 | $130,124.00 | 250 | 25 | 13 | 3 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $8,050.00 |
| Nicholas Duva | Associate Superintendent | 07/01/2008 - 06/30/2009 | $157,153.00 | 250 | 25 | 13 | 3 | $1,630.00 | $7,800.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $7,275.00 |
| Flavio Rubano | Associate Superintendent | 07/01/2008 - 06/30/2009 | $152,955.00 | 250 | 25 | 13 | 3 | $230.00 | $4,050.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $11,192.00 |
| Adele Macula | Associate Superintendent | 07/01/2008 - 06/30/2009 | $152,055.00 | 250 | 25 | 13 | 3 | $3,002.00 | $2,800.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $2,423.00 |
| Jenaro Rivas | Associate Superintendent | 07/01/2008 - 06/30/2009 | $155,774.00 | 250 | 25 | 13 | 3 | $300.00 | $1,550.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $6,250.00 |
2009-2010
Nine employees earned more than $150,000 per year for 2009-2010:[2]
| Name | Position | Contract dates | Base annual salary | Annual work days | Annual vacation days | Annual sick days | Annual personal days | Allowances | Bonuses | Life insurance | Retirement plans | Post-employment benefits | Other/in-kind remuneration |
| Dr. Charles Epps, Jr. | Superintendent | 07/01/2009 - 06/30/2011 | $258,200.00 | 240 | 22 | 15 | 5 | $13,736.00 | $0.00 | $10,00.00 | $0.00 | $25,746.00 | $0.00 |
| Flavio Rubano | Deputy Superintendent | 07/01/2009 - 06/30/2010 | $162,213.00 | 250 | 25 | 13 | 3 | $609.00 | $4,050.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $11,595.00 |
| Melissa Simmons | Business Administrator | 07/01/2009 - 06/30/2010 | $155,000.00 | 250 | 25 | 13 | 3 | $990.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $375.00 |
| Patricia Bryant | Associate Superintendent | 07/01/2009 - 06/30/2010 | $153,427.00 | 250 | 25 | 13 | 3 | $2,127.00 | $1,550.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $7,575.00 |
| Maryann Hammer | Associate Superintendent | 07/01/2009 - 06/30/2010 | $152,398.00 | 250 | 25 | 13 | 3 | $418.00 | $5,300.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $10,259.00 |
| Adele Macula | Associate Superintendent | 07/01/2009 - 06/30/2010 | $158,137.00 | 250 | 25 | 13 | 3 | $2,886.00 | $2,800.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $2,699.00 |
| Jenaro Rivas | Associate Superintendent | 07/01/2009 - 06/30/2010 | $162,005.00 | 250 | 25 | 13 | 3 | $300.00 | $2,800.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $6,675.00 |
| Ellen Ruane | Special Assistant | 07/01/2009 - 06/30/2010 | $151,955.00 | 250 | 25 | 13 | 3 | $300.00 | $5,300.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $8,492.00 |
| Franklin Walker | Associate Superintendent | 07/01/2009 - 06/30/2010 | $152,865.00 | 250 | 25 | 13 | 3 | $300.00 | $5,300.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $7,178.00 |
Records of board member salaries are not maintained by the district. Information regarding other compensation was not provided.
Phone use
The district receives monthly bills from cell phone providers of district employees. Information is subject to clerical fees but can be submitted in response to an additional OPRA request (pending as of July 11, 2011).
Salary records project
In 2011, Sunshine Review chose 152 local governments as the focus of research on public employee salaries. The editors of Sunshine Review selected eight states with relevant political contexts (listed alphabetically):
1. California
2. Florida
3. Illinois
4. Michigan
5. New Jersey
6. Pennsylvania
7. Texas
8. Wisconsin
Within these states, the editors of Sunshine Review focused on the most populous cities, counties and school districts, as well as the emergency services entities within these governments. The purpose of this selection method was to develop articles on governments affecting the most citizens.
The salary information garnered from these states were a combination of existing online resources and state Freedom of Information Act requests sent out to the governments.
A study published by the Pew Charitable Trusts and the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia said the city of Philadelphia faced challenges owing to the cost of public employee pensions.[3] The report claimed the amount that Philadelphia paid to pension recipients limited the city’s ability to use its budget effectively.
The report said there were more individuals receiving pension benefits—33,907 claimants in 2006—than workers in the city—28,701.[3] The authors recommended three steps towards addressing the problem of high costs in pensions: improved data collection, expanded transparency initiatives, and reductions to the city's overall budget.[3]
Salary schedules can be published as ranges, not as specific compensation figures, and may leave out compensation received through health and retirement benefits, as well as benefits such as commuter allowances and cell phone reimbursements. This project aimed to close the gap and provide a more accurate picture of public employee salaries for the sake of public education and transparency.
See also
External links
Footnotes
