Some earn $50,000 more per year than maximum allowed in public-school districts
By John Mooney
The salaries of top administrators at private special-needs schools have drawn the attention of a state watchdog, who said dozens of school directors make far more than allowed for their colleagues in public schools.
A new report from the Office of the State Auditor says at least some of the state’s nearly 200 private special-needs schools – which are funded by public schools that send students to them — pay exorbitant salaries to their top administrators and that the state has done little to rein in those salaries.
For instance, the report said one school with just 110 students pays each of two directors $225,734 a year, the maximum allowed for the private schools under state regulations. Forty-four directors at 32 schools were making more than the $175,000 maximum for superintendents in public school districts, which was imposed by Gov. Chris Christie amid controversy three years ago.
A total of “19 executive directors and/or directors at 13 schools, with an average enrollment of 200 students, made the maximum of $225,734,” the report said.
The report, released Monday, examined oversight of special-education programs and found that the state has met many of the state and federal requirements in that regard.
But toward the end of the eight-page report, State Auditor Stephen Eells takes a critical look at how the state has overseen private special- education schools, which serve about 8 percent – or close to 15,000 – of the state’s students with disabilities.
Without naming names or the schools, the report also said that one-fifth of the schools employ family members of their directors. One school’s director is also providing the food-service contract at five times the average cost of other schools, the report said.
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