Marblehead school board sets super salary range

MARBLEHEAD – The next Marblehead school superintendent will be paid at least $160,000 a year – and possibly as much as $185,000.School Committee members EuRim Chun, Kathy Leonard and Dick Nohelty set that salary range at a special meeting Wednesday morning, with the help of School Business Manager Brian Salzer.Meeting for less than an hour, they also approved the superintendent’s job description and a rough draft of a 14-member screening committee. They also agreed to seek a three-year contract commitment from the next superintendent and require that individual to live in Marblehead. Benefits will be negotiable.The only discussion of the job description came on the issue of the schools’ instructional focus, which is being institutionalized this year. Committee members decided to give the next administrator room to add to that focus or adapt it to a new leadership style, instead of forcing exact adherence to it.The salary discussion began with an examination of 11 Massachusetts communities, ranging from Hingham, which pays its school superintendent $157,882, to Lexington, which pays $241,914.Current Superintendent Paul Dulac is paid $181,080 this year.Experience did not have an obvious relationship to pay scale, however. Lexington’s superintendent had 12 years experience as a superintendent, compared to Dulac’s 25. Wayland’s superintendent, with 33 years experience, is paid $185,483. Swampscott hired a former assistant superintendent with no superintendent experience at $160,000."When it comes to experience we’re looking at a body of work. The difference between $160,000 and $180,000 pales in comparison to the financial damage done to the town if (the superintendent) screws up a budget or a contract negotiation," Nohelty said.Marblehead has already posted a request for proposals from search consulting firms and five firms have expressed interest, Chun told the committee members. The deadline for proposals is noon next Friday.