Health & Fitness
Top BOE Salary Well Earned
Here is the full story on the top paid Board of Ed Employee.
ManchesterPatch.com reported recently on top pay for Manchester Board of Education employees, headlining the MRA/New Horizons Director as earning top dollar. The pay was reported in two categories: regular salary and “other compensation.” Without additional explanation and background information the story is incomplete.
Just to clarify- Mr Thorndike’s responsibilities include: 1. full time Director of Manchester Regional Academy, a school for students with behavior and learning challenges; 2. the Director of New Horizons, an afternoon and evening expulsion program; 3. the administrator of all Manchester Board of Education secondary and elementary summer school programs, including daily direct supervision of the MHS summer School.
Both MRA and New Horizons programs educate many students who may otherwise have to be placed out of district at the costs of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Both Kids and tax dollars are saved through these programs.
The true figures:
Thorndike’s salary: Salary: $142,015 Other Compensation: $26,092 Total: $168,108.
Estimated cost of placing the 85 MRA/New Horizons students out of district: $2-3 million
Estimated tuition income from 20 out of district students placed at MRA: $920,000
You do the math: Mr. Thorndike’s pay is well earned.
Disclosure: The writer is an educator and the former Director of MRA and MHS Summer School.
