By Matthew Sockol
Staff Writer
FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP – Contracts for administrators in the Freehold Township K-8 School District have been approved by the Board of Education.
On June 14, the board approved contracts for Neal Dickstein, assistant superintendent of human resources and technology, Pamela Haimer, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction, and Robert DeVita, business administrator and board secretary, for the 2016-17 school year.
Dickstein will receive a salary of $158,522 and a merit bonus of $6,340 for the upcoming school year. Haimer will receive a salary of $150,858 and a merit bonus of $6,034. DeVita will receive a salary of $158,100 and a merit bonus of $6,324, according to the board.
Board President Christopher Marion, Vice President Jason Levy and board members Michael Amoroso, Kay Poklemba-Holtz, Edward Hudak, Michelle Lambert and Staci Triandafellos voted yes on approving the contracts. Board members Daniel DiBlasio and Jennifer Patten abstained from the vote.
The board also approved certification of merit pay bonuses to district staff for meeting and achieving quantitative and qualitative merit goals.
According to the board, Superintendent of Schools Ross Kasun achieved the quantitative goal of approving student growth objectives that 90 percent of the teaching staff will score effectively on and the qualitative goal of developing and implementing a comprehensive plan to create a personalized learning approach for students.
Heather Mills, supervisor of educational services, achieved the quantitative goal of increasing the opportunities of Early Childhood Learning Center pre-kindergarten students with disabilities to be exposed to their typical peers by 20 percent, according to the board.
Principal Rebecca Winters and Supervisor Brad Millaway of the C. Richard Applegate School and Principal John Soviero and Assistant Principal Thomas Smith of the Barkalow Middle School achieved the quantitative goal of using LearnBop, an assessment and intervention tool.
LearnBop will increase the scores of fourth and fifth grade students at Applegate and sixth through eighth grade students at Barkalow who obtained an 80 percent or lower result on their pre-assessment tests by 10 percent on their post-assessment tests, according to the board.
The certifications for Kasun’s merit goals achievement will be sent to Lester Richens, the interim executive county superintendent of schools. Upon approval from Richens, Kasun will receive a quantitative merit bonus of $5,445, which is 3.33 percent of his annual salary, and a qualitative merit bonus of $4,125, which is 2.5 percent of his annual salary.
Winters, Millaway, Soviero, Smith and Mills each received a merit bonus of $2,125.
Marion, Levy, Amoroso, Poklemba-Holtz, Hudak, Lambert and Triandafellos voted in favor of the merit bonuses. DiBlasio and Patten abstained.
