By Linda Conner Lambeck

WESTPORT — The highest-paid employee on Westport’s public payroll will get a $10,000 bonus in January in addition to the 3 percent pay raise awarded last month.

The newly extended contract for Supt. of Schools Thomas Scarice, made public Monday, states that in addition to a base annual salary of $312,292.71 and a $5,000 annuity, he will receive a one-time payment of $10,000 on a date in January 2024 to be determined by the board.

The contract was signed by both Scarice and Board Chairwoman Lee Goldstein on July 6.

The board voted unanimously to extend Scarice’s contract through June 2026 at a meeting in June. At the time, full details of the pact were not made public.

“Not new. [It] was in my contract last year,” Scarice said of the bonus in an email Monday.

Goldstein also confirmed that Scarce was paid the bonus in the last fiscal year as part of his total compensation package.

“We are fortunate to have Tom at the helm of the district,” Goldstein said in an email. “In our review, the board talked a lot about the culture he has fostered and continues to build. It is a culture of trust, communication, respect and commitment to growth and improvement. We look forward to a long relationship.”

In the 2022 calendar year, Scarice was paid total wages of $318,339, including salary, compensation for unused vacation time and his annuity, according to school officials.

Scarice’s contract allows for up to five weeks of paid vacation, of which 10 days can be carried over to the next year.

The contract also allows a transportation allowance of $6,000 annually.

Scarice’s salary is comparable to the amount paid superintendents in several area school districts.

New Canaan Supt. Bryan Luizzi, in 2022 received a base salary of $345,841 and a $35,516 annuity, on top of $45,431 in deferred compensation. He too gets a $6,000 travel allowance.

Darien’s Supt. Alan Addley was reported to have a $303,196 salary last year.

Wilton Supt. Kevin Smith, according to his 2021-24 contract, had a base salary of $269,597. His contract called for a one-time $10,000 performance bonus in 2021-22, subsequent salary adjustments in year two and three of the contract and an additional $15,000 in both of those years in deferred compensation.

Stamford Supt. Tamu Lucero, meanwhile, just received a raise that will bring her base salary to $307,000, with another $60,000 split between an annuity plan and deferred compensation.

While Scarice’s contract allows for written evaluations by the school board of his job performance, the board has conducted those reviews verbally since he was hired in 2020. As such, an evaluation is not publicly disclosable under the state’s Freedom of Information Act.

Board members have all indicated individually, however, that they are pleased with the job he is doing. So have town officials.

The 3 percent boost in Scarice’s base salary in the new fiscal year is also comparable to the pay increase given to Scarice’s leadership cabinet and 57 other non-union school employees.

Freelance writer Linda Conner Lambeck, a reporter for more than four decades at the Connecticut Post and other Hearst publications, is a member of the Education Writers Association. 

Following is the complete text of Supt. of Schools Thomas Scarice’s new contract: