By Linda Conner Lambeck

WESTPORT–Raises were handed out Wednesday to dozens of non-union school district employees, but not to the schools’ superintendent whose performance review is still pending. Board Chair Lee Goldstein said there is no problem or issue.

“It’s purely timing,” Goldstein said in a phone call after the special school board meeting held via Zoom.

During the meeting, Goldstein made a motion to give Schools Superintendent Thomas Scarice, pending execution of a satisfactory employment contract update, the same 4 percent raise being awarded to three members of his cabinet and 59 other non-union staffers. She withdrew the motion when other board members said they preferred to wait.

“I think from the process perspective, I wouldn’t be in favor of just pushing (the raise) through, upstaging the review,” said Board Member Kevin Christie. 

“Makes sense,” said Board Member Robert Harrington, agreeing with Christie. “It makes more logical sense to review first.”

“I am OK putting (the raise) off,” added Board Secretary Neil Phillips.

Harrington said he didn’t necessarily understand why the review hadn’t yet happened. It normally occurs in the spring, before the start of the new fiscal year on July 1, when salary adjustments for most employees go into effect.

Delay not unusual

Goldstein said the delay is not ideal, but also not unusual.

Last summer, the board waited until July 23 before the decision. The board approved Scarice’s contract extension unanimously.

Scarice, who was not on the Wednesday Zoom meeting, said later in an email that there is no particular reason for the delay. “Just haven’t been able to schedule it yet,” Scarice said. “Given the timing in June, and everything that comes to a head at the end of a school year, this is not uncommon.”

He said it would occur over the next couple of weeks, when things are slower. A date has not yet been set.

In Connecticut, school superintendents generally work under three-year contracts that annually are bumped out a year at the conclusion of a successful annual review.

Town’s highest paid official

Scarice’s current contract ends June 30, 2027. Last year he was awarded a 3 percent raise and his annual base salary was $321,661 for the fiscal year that started July 1, 2024. He is the town’s highest paid official.

Since he took the job in July 2020, Scarice has enjoyed wide praise from town officials and unanimous support from the seven-member school board. That may no longer be the case.

Last month, in an opinion piece in Westport Journal, Harrington wrote that despite Scarice bringing stability to the district and introducing initiatives he supports, he could no longer support Scarice as Westport public school’s leader based on his handling of a still simmering Staples soccer coach controversy. The contracts of three coaches were not renewed this past school year. Scarice backed that decision. Harrington has criticized the handling of the investigation that followed the dismissals.

None of that was raised during the meeting on Wednesday. 

Superintendent performance reviews are typically held in executive session. The Connecticut Freedom of Information law allows for school superintendent job performance evaluations to be made public, but only if school board members put their feedback in writing. Westport’s review is done verbally, according to Goldstein.

Non-union staff raises

While Scarice will have to wait for a retroactive raise in the new fiscal year, most of his cabinet and some 59 other non-union staff will not.

On a 6-0 vote, with Board Vice Chair Dorie Hordon absent, the board agreed to give 4 percent raises to the non-represented staff.

They also extended the employment agreements of Chief Financial Officer Elio Longo and Assistant Superintendents Michael Rizzo and John Bayers through the 2027-2028 school year. 

In the 2025-26 fiscal year, Longo will make $273,737, Rizzo, $252,626 and Bayers, $243,758.

Assistant Superintendent Anna Mahon, who starts her role in charge of Teaching and Learning this month, will make the $240,000 salary awarded when she was hired by the district in March.

The other raises go to support supervisors, secretaries, head custodians, technology assistants, security personnel, athletic trainers, occupational therapists and physical therapists.

Normally the raises reflect what unionized administrators receive, but a new contract for administrators is about to be negotiated this fall, so so the percentages don’t all align Goldstein said.

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Linda Conner Lambeck

^{_{Linda Conner Lambeck covers education for Westport Journal. She was a reporter for more than four decades at the Connecticut Post and other Hearst publications. She has covered education throughout Fairfield and New Haven counties. She is a proud member of the Education Writers Association.}}