President said motions have been 'voted down before,' and warned against attempts to circumvent Governor's salary cap.
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 — School board president Anthony Mancuso blocked motions to rescind the renegotiated contract of School Superintendent LeRoy Seitz during tonight’s meeting.
The two motions — made by board members Bob Crawford and Michael Strumolo — were halted by Mancuso, who ruled them out of order because he said they were "dilatory." The procedural block prevented the motions from coming to a vote.
"It has come up before and it has been voted down before," Mancuso said. "We are not going to sit here and do this meeting after meeting."
After the motions were blocked, Crawford reminded the board of the consequences should members try to circumvent Gov. Chris Christie and his salary cap.
"When all this comes to pass, I would like to know what the president’s plan is to give back to the children the money that was spent," Strumolo said.
The board voted Nov. 9 to raise Seitz’s salary from $212,020 to $216,040 during the first year of his new contract. Seitz 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. In two previous meetings, motions made to rescind the contract were voted down.
On Nov. 15, however, Morris County Executive Superintendent Kathleen Serafino ordered the board to rescind the contract by Dec. 1. That same day, acting Education Commissioner Rochelle Hendricks warned county superintendents not to approve any contracts before Christie’s cap on their salaries takes effect Feb. 7.
