Plainfield school district's top earners were administrators. How much did they make?
The Plainfield school district’s 459 employees last year earned a combined $22.4 million in salary and associated pay with administrators coming in at the top 12 highest pay spots.
Superintendent Paul Brenton was the district’s top earner for the 2021-22 fiscal year with a base salary of $169,000 and another $3,380 in annuity benefits related to a retirement contribution.
Assistant Superintendent Scott Sugarman and principals overseeing the district’s six schools were among the other top earners last year. Business Manager Ronald Lussier was the district’s highest paid non-school administrator with a base salary of $109,600 and another $2,000 earned in annuity pay.
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Overtime pay for nurses and custodians
The district paid $177,300 in overtime pay, much of it allotted to school nurses and custodians. Head nurse Holly Desimone was paid $22,767 in overtime, according to salary documents provided to The Bulletin through a state Freedom of Information Act request.
Brenton said Desimone’s overtime pay was covered by an Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief, or ESSER, grant, offered to blunt the cost effects of the COVID-19 pandemic to school districts.
“As part of her extra work during the pandemic, (Desimone) was calling parents on weekends offering advice, communicating information and helping maintain a related data base,” Brenton said.
Other nurses earned between $3,000 and $14,000 in overtime last year.
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Custodians as a group were also listed as an employee segment that earned significant overtime, with individuals earning $13,000 at the high end to about $100 on the other end of the scale.
Those overtime payments were unrelated to the pandemic and instead compensated workers for the kind of work they’re required to do in any typical school year, Brenton said.
“All our facilities, especially the high school, get a lot of use outside the school day,” he said. “It could mean opening the theater for a community event which requires cleaning afterwards – all that is overtime work.”
Stipends and additional programming costs
The district also paid $769,700 in combined additional programing and stipend costs. Brenton said that money is paid to teachers who take on additional responsibilities during the year, from coaching sports and running summer school courses to teaching extra classes during the regular school year.
For a complete list of the school district's salaries, see our related story.
EMPLOYEE | TITLE | BASE SALARY | ADDITIONAL PROGRAMS AND/OR STIPENDS | TOTAL |
BRENTON, PAUL | SUPERINTENDENT | $169,000.00 | $3,380.00 | $172,380.00 |
SUGARMAN, SCOTT | ADMINISTRATOR | $156,533.00 | $2,302.00 | $158,835.00 |
BITGOOD, CHRISTOPHER L | ADMINISTRATOR | $151,533.00 | $151,533.00 | |
CADRO, RENA L | ADMINITRATOR | $146,343.00 | $146,343.00 | |
GAGNON, SCOTT W | ADMINISTRATOR | $146,343.00 | $146,343.00 | |
HUTCHINSON, NATASHA | ADMINSTRATOR | $141,156.00 | $141,156.00 | |
NAGEL, WILLIAM | ADMINSTRATOR | $141,156.00 | $141,156.00 | |
TRAHAN, KRISTEN | ADMINSTRATOR | $141,156.00 | $141,156.00 | |
COTE, JOHN W | ADMINISTRATOR | $132,851.00 | $132,851.00 | |
DELANEY, COLIN | ADMINISTRATOR | $132,851.00 | $132,851.00 | |
KELLEHER, STACEY | ADMINISTRATOR | $132,851.00 | $132,851.00 | |
FITCH, JESSICA | ADMINISTRATOR | $132,849.00 | $132,849.00 | |
LUSSIER, RONALD A | BUSINESS MANAGER | $109,600.00 | $2,000.00 | $111,600.00 |
DIGIACOMO, JOHN W | TEACHER | $82,300.00 | $21,211.67 | $103,511.67 |
PARDEN, ANDREAS G | IT Director | $97,500.00 | $97,500.00 | |
VOLAND, JAN P | TEACHER | $82,300.00 | $12,949.50 | $95,249.50 |
GRANT, KEVIN | TEACHER | $82,300.00 | $12,145.00 | $94,445.00 |
SMITH, PATRICK J | TEACHER | $82,300.00 | $11,818.00 | $94,118.00 |
KELLEY, PAUL W JR | TEACHER | $82,300.00 | $10,970.00 | $93,270.00 |
JORDAN, TIMOTHY R | TEACHER | $63,300.00 | $29,816.75 | $93,116.75 |
WAGNER, BETHANY | TEACHER | $82,300.00 | $8,732.00 | $91,032.00 |
PHANEUF, JESSICA A | TEACHER | $85,300.00 | $5,293.00 | $90,593.00 |
WITHAM, AMANDA M | TEACHER | $82,300.00 | $8,195.00 | $90,495.00 |
MACINNIS, MARI-JO | TEACHER | $85,300.00 | $4,666.86 | $89,966.86 |
STEVENSON, BRIAN R | TEACHER | $82,300.00 | $7,203.00 | $89,503.00 |
DAVIS, HEIDI | TEACHER | $85,300.00 | $4,086.00 | $89,386.00 |
BEAUREGARD, MICHELLE M | TEACHER | $82,300.00 | $6,971.83 | $89,271.83 |
LAFEMINA, PHILIP S | TEACHER | $85,300.00 | $3,765.00 | $89,065.00 |
CURRAN, MELISSA A | TEACHER | $76,000.00 | $12,497.43 | $88,497.43 |
MALONE, SHAENA L | TEACHER | $85,300.00 | $2,885.00 | $88,185.00 |
John Penney can be reached at jpenney@norwichbulletin.com or at (860) 857-6965
This article originally appeared on The Bulletin: Plainfield school district fiscal 2022 salaries superintendent
