$150K-Plus Salaries For Parsippany Superintendent, Principals

PARSIPPANY, NJ — It's becoming more common for superintendents, principals, and educational administrators state-wide to earn more than $150,000 including in Parsippany, according to data from the New Jersey Department of Education.

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.

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

In Morris County, Superintendent of the West Morris Regional High School District Michael Ben-David topped the list of earners with a salary of $254,383 followed by the Morris Hills Regional School District's Superintendent James Jencarelli with $253,893.

The highest earner for the Parsippany-Troy Hills Township School District was Superintendent Barbara Sargent, who earned a salary of $247,500 in the last year.

Here are the top earners in Parsippany's school administration, along with their current or most recent position and most recent salary. All data comes from the New Jersey Department of Education:

1. Barbara Sargent: Superintendent, $247,500
2. Robert Sutter: Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources, $193,978
3. Nancy Gigante: Director of Curriculum and Instruction, $192,355
4. Robin Tedesco: Interim Business Administrator/Board Secretary, $190,658
5. Denis Mulroony: Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, $190,580
6. Natalie C. Betz: Principal at Northvail Elementary School, $184,992
7. Christopher Waack: Principal at Intervale Elementary School, $180,986
8. Mark Gray: Principal at Central Middle School, $179,810
9. Keith Cortright: Executive Director of Pupil Personnel Services, $177,873
10. Jeffrey Martens: Principal at Troy Hills Elementary School, $177,078
11. Matthew Thompson: Principal at Parsippany Hills High School, $173,389
12. Michael DiSanto: Director of K-12 Health/Physical Education, $173,154
13. Michele Hoffman: Principal at Lake Parsippany Elementary School, $172,188
14. Juan Cruz: Principal at Rockaway Meadow Elementary School, $157,069
15. Steven Linzenbold: Principal at Knollwood Elementary School, $151,738
16. Carly Stout: Principal at Brooklawn Middle School, $151,170
17. Melissa Carucci: Principal at Parsippany High School, $150,000

Why NJ School-Administrator Salaries Are Rising

Former Governor Chris Christie imposed a $175,000 salary cap for superintendents in 2011. In 2017, the Christie administration increased the maximum base pay for superintendents to $191,584.

Then, in 2019, Gov. Phil Murphy signed legislation that repealed the salary cap for superintendents while also establishing 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 five-digit raises last year. But when the position's pay was capped, many districts struggled to maintain experienced superintendents, 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.