Superintendent to keep full salary after taking lesser role

by Colleen Curry on September 16th, 2009 Comment

Posted via APP.com:

Freehold Regional High School District Superintendent H. James Wasser will continue to receive a salary in excess of $200,000, an annual raise and accrued sick and vacation days even while he steps down into an administrative position this June.

Wasser offered no explanation for his resignation, which came several months after a doctoral degree controversy died down. He declined to comment Tuesday, district spokesman James Quirk said.

Wasser's superintendent contract will be honored even as he works from this June through June 2011 in an administrative position under a new superintendent, except for three provisions: he will no longer use the SUV the district has provided, he cannot receive tuition reimbursement if he works toward a new degree and will no longer sit on the school board as a nonvoting member, board member Barry Hochberg of Marlboro said.

Wasser's year's worth of sick time can be used or cashed in at the end of his contract, Hochberg said.

"It will be a little expensive," Hochberg said of the agreement. "I'm not too thrilled about this."

But, the board would not allow Wasser to have a so-called no-show job, he said.

Wasser made a confidential proposal at an Aug. 31 executive session, and the board added duties to the proposed administrator for special projects position before was accepted Monday, Hochberg said.

Wasser will oversee the RAISE academy for at-risk students, Title IV grants, any new state education code that applies to the district, the drug policy, student discipline hearings and some staff development training in this position, Hochberg said. He will also serve as liaison between the school board and Monmouth County officials as well as between the board and local law enforcement, write reports to the state Education Department and follow up on any board actions deemed necessary, Hochberg said.

The board believes this will help them smoothly transition to a new superintendent, said Board President Ronald G. Lawson of Howell. Hochberg said he hopes a new superintendent will bring needed change to a district whose reputation was damaged by a so-called diploma mill controversy.

Wasser became the target for district residents and taxpayers' outrage after it was revealed in July 2008 that he and four others in the district had received doctoral degrees from an unaccredited online school, Breyer State University, and that tuition and $2,500 annual stipends for the degrees were paid by the district.

While state and county investigations exonerated Wasser of criminal accusations, the state concluded in early September 2008 that Wasser and one former and one current assistant superintendent, Donna Evangelista, must stop using their doctoral titles or face fines. They swiftly complied. Wasser relinquished his stipend and later apologized to the district. During the controversy, angry outbursts during meetings were common, and some demanded Wasser's resignation. But in recent months, relative calm had become the norm, though a few residents continued to request Wasser pay back tuition reimbursement and previously earned stipend money for the degree.

One such dissenter, Rhoda Sirulnick, 70, of Manalapan requested that restitution shortly after Wasser's resignation. Wasser refused.

Whether the controversy was related to the resignation is unclear; board members' opinions differ.

Lawson said he thinks Wasser wanted to spend more time with family, and says he didn't think that, after getting through the worst of the diploma storm, Wasser would give up.

Hochberg said he thinks it was due, in part, to pressure from the public, and to a lesser extent pressure from he, Jennifer Sutera of Manalapan and Harold "Heshy" Moses of Freehold, who ran for board seats on platforms to refuse to renew Wasser's contract after its June 2011 expiration.

Regardless of the state-wide controversy, Wasser's 23-year career in the district should be praised, board members said.

During a telephone interview, Hochberg, a critic of Wasser before being elected to the board in April, said Wasser "did wonderful things for the district. (But) at the end I think he made some poor choices."

Lawson, also during a telephone interview Tuesday, said that Wasser "is a man who has put up with a whole lot of crap during his tenure, and he's always come out on top when he's been accused of something."

He added: "I just wish that over the years this kind of political nonsense had never have happened, and that he had that much more time to devote (to the district)."

Lawson said that "(Wasser) has built a sound, a rock solid, foundation for high school education, and yet he's done it with the foresight of taking chances, but carefully measured chances. . .that's really what has made our district excel."

Wasser may not have had the votes to renew his contract after June 2011. If Hochberg, Sutera and Moses voted no and if Howell representatives abstained for nepotism conflicts, as they did on Wasser's resignation, only 3.05 possible yes votes remained in the boards weighted system. To pass a superintendent's contract 4.6 votes are needed in the system.