UPDATED: Six-Figure Connecticut School Superintendents Also Get Big Perks

UPDATE: Montville Superintendent Pamela W. Aubin contacted Patch to make the following clarifications. 

"I read the Patch overview and the information you have reported is incorrect.  Each year the Board votes whether or not to extend my contract and issues an employee contract amendment.  For example, as of June 29, 2012 the employee contract amendment for the period July 1, 2012-June 20, 2013:

The base salary consists of two parts:

A salary of $164,222 plus an elective tax sheltered annuity of $13,138.00 which is 8% of the base salary. The term of employment is extended to June 30, 2015. Travel reimbursement for the use of my automobile is $7,000. All other terms listed in the original contract remain unchanged and continue in full force and effect."

Original story:

Besides their hefty six-figure salaries, Connecticut school superintendents also command enviable perks and bonuses, according to a report in the New Haven Register.

Montville superintendent Pamela W. Aubin, whose July 2010 contract expires this July, earns a base salary of $158,000 a year. She also receives a $12,640 annuity, a $4,800 travel allowance, 27 paid vacation days, and 60 paid sick days among other benefits which in total represent a cost of $63.87 per student based on the district enrollment of 2777, according to the Register story.

Along with its sister news organizations, including the Middletown Press and the Litchfield County Times, the Register found that the average pay for school superintendents in Connecticut is $166,000 and that they can significantly boost that pay with other negotiated perks and benefits, including compensation for unused sick time, meal allowances, travel pay and bonuses.

The Register included in its story a database of its review of the pay of 148 superintendents, along with links to their contracts.

Some school superintendents earn more than $200,000 annually and get tens of thousands more each year in perks, the newspapers found. Many also get generous benefit packages that include up to a month of vacation time and several weeks of sick time that can be accrued and then paid out if unused.

While the average annual pay for a school superintendent in Connecticut is $166,000, many school leaders make more than that, the report states. In West Hartford, for instance, Superintendent Karen List makes $230,000 annually with a tax-sheltered annuity included. That makes her the 14th highest paid superintendent in Connecticut.

In Berlin, School Superintendent David Erwin earns $203,000 annually, according to the report.