Lawsuit seeks approval for LeRoy Seitz's contract
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Parsippany-Troy Hills Schools Superintendent LeRoy Seitz was awarded a new five-year salary contract that exceeded the spending cap proposed by Gov. Chris Christie for school superintendents. PARSIPPANY — The Parsippany Board of Education has filed a lawsuit demanding that its superintendent be granted a contract extension Gov. Chris Christie has called "the definition of greed and arrogance."
The suit, filed with the state Appellate Division in Trenton, seeks a court order that would compel the Morris County school superintendent and the acting state education commissioner to approve the board’s five-year contract for Superintendent LeRoy Seitz.
In a document attached to the suit, Seitz says the county and state education officials did not question the legality of the proposed contract before Nov. 9, when Christie denounced him as being "the poster boy for all that is wrong with the public school system."
The Parsippany board voted Nov. 9 to raise Seitz’s salary from $212,020 to $216,040 during the first year of the new contract. He was to receive a 2 percent raise in each of the next four years, which would take his salary to $234,065 by the end of the contract.
On Nov. 15, however, Morris Schools Superintendent Kathleen Serafino ordered the board to rescind the contract. That same day, Acting Education Commissioner Rochelle Hendricks warned county superintendents not to approve any contracts before Christie’s cap on superintendent salaries takes effect Feb. 7.
The cap, which Christie announced Nov. 1 as a regulation that does not require legislative approval, limits superintendents’ salaries based on the number of students in their districts. It sets a cap of $175,000 on Seitz’s salary.
The Parsippany board’s suit, filed last Thursday, names Serafino, Hendricks and the state Department of Education as defendants.
In his document, Seitz says that prior to Christie’s statement on Nov. 9, no one from the county or state told him his proposed salary would be subject to the cap.
On Friday, the New Jersey Association of School Administrators has filed what’s known as an amicus curiae brief seeking to participate in the Parsippany suit. Richard Bozza, executive director of the association, attached a document saying the lawsuit is "of particular importance" because existing laws require county superintendents to review employment contracts in accordance with standards already adopted by the education commissioner.
In the brief, Bozza said Hendricks "has illegally prevented school districts from renegotiating contracts" because the regulations "have not yet been adopted."
Bozza also said Serafino did not issue a final letter of approval for Seitz’ contract, "even though she approved that contract both verbally and via e-mail."
Bozza added that several other county superintendents have also failed to review and approve contracts that "were submitted in accordance with law and regulations."
"We felt it was very important that the courts see that this action has very broad application, not just in Parsippany, but throughout the state," said Maria Lepore, chief counsel for the administrators association. "Currently there is no (salary) cap. The law has not been changed; to change the laws, very specific procedures have to be followed."
Serafino could not be reached for comment. Alex Guenther, a spokesman for the Department of Education, said "we have no comment on the litigation."
Christie’s spokesman, Michael Drewniak, said, "The governor has made clear his feelings about the situation in Parsippany."
Meanwhile, the Assembly today unanimously passed a bill aimed at controlling superintendent contracts.
The bill, which does not set a specific salary limit, would require each superintendent to sign a standard form for the public disclosing all terms of his contract, including salary, health insurance, pension, sickd days, vacation leave and anything else awarded.
Education Committee Chairman and bill sponsor Patrick Diegnan (D-Middlesex) said the purpose of the bill is "transparency and accountability." He pointed out that benefits for some superintendents have greatly inflated the value of their contracts.
Staff writer Jeanette Rundquist contributed to this report.