$150K-Plus Salaries Superintendents, School Admins In The Gloucester Township Area

GLOUCESTER TOWNSHIP, NJ — It's becoming increasingly common for school administrators in New Jersey to make upwards of $150,000. This year, that included three educational leaders in the Gloucester Township district and five within Black Horse Pike schools, according to data from the state Department of Education released this month.

Patch pulled salary data that includes superintendents, principals and assistant principals, curriculum directors and other employees in administrative positions within New Jersey schools. Overall, more than 3,200 administrators made $150,000 or more during the 2022-23 school year — about 600 more than the year prior.

In both local school districts, the highest earners are superintendents — Black Horse Pike's Brian Repici ($213,276 salary) and Gloucester Township's John Bilodeau ($199,324).

• Read more: These Are The Highest Paid School Administrators In NJ: New Data

Here are the top administrative earners in Gloucester Township Public Schools, where they work, their years of prior experience, and their most recent salary. All data comes from the New Jersey Department of Education:

1. John Bilodeau, district office, 19 years, $199,324
2. Timothy Trow, district office, 20 years, $173,078
3. Janice Grassia, district office, four years, $152,440

Here are the Black Horse Pike Regional School District's top administrative earners, along with where they work, their years of prior experience, and their most recent salary, according to state data:

1. Brian Repici, district office, 24 years, $213,276
2. Julie Scully, district office, 24 years, $158,843
3. Melissa Sheppard, Triton Regional High School, 25 years, $156,304
4. Frank Rizzo, district office, 23 years, $150,905
5. Mary Baratta, district office, 24 years, $150,590

Why NJ School-Administrator Salaries Are Rising

Back in 2011, then-Gov. Chris Christie implemented a $175,000 cap for superintendents. The Christie administration raised the maximum base pay for superintendents to $191,584 in 2017.

Then in 2019, Gov. Phil Murphy signed a law that eliminated the cap for superintendent salaries, but set guidelines for school-executive contracts to limit or standardize bonuses and other perks.

School executive pay has long been a controversial subject in both local school district budgeting and state policy. Some of the state's highest-paid administrators received significant five- and even six-digit raises last year. But many districts struggled to maintain experienced superintendents when the position's pay was capped, according to a 2019 analysis from NJ Spotlight.

Superintendents, principals and other school leaders throughout the nation have faced intense scrutiny for COVID-19 management and from politically charged movements to overhaul or eliminate certain subjects and topics from the curriculum. But those obstacles have also fallen to teachers and other rank-and-file school employees. And the pandemic exacerbated New Jersey's shortage of teaching candidates.

With reporting from Michelle Rotuno-Johnson/Patch staff.