A superintendent who would earn less than one of the teachers she supervises?

A contract just approved by the LaFayette school board calls for Laura Lavine to make $15,000 as interim superintendent and just $30,000 if the board appoints her full time after three months.

Superintendents in New York state were paid an average of $167,000 in 2013-14, and interim superintendents usually are paid just under that, officials said.

That salary would make Lavine the lowest-paid superintendent in the state.

“This is highly unusual,” said Jacinda Conboy, general counsel for the New York State Council of School Superintendents. “You don’t see anyone doing a job of that caliber for that low of a salary. Teachers earn more than that. Plus it’s a job that requires a significant amount of time.”

Lavine, who will become LaFayette’s interim superintendent July 1, agreed to be paid $30,000 annually for four years. The contract would give her lifetime health insurance for her and her husband, but state education officials say that’s a common clause in superintendents’ contracts.

Lavine did ask the district to supplement her salary with the health insurance, as the insurance she has now is not lifetime, she said.

Because Lavine, 58, is a retired public employee under age 65 receiving a public pension, she has a $30,000 cap on her annual earnings. Her pension is $101,812 after she retired from the Clarkstown school district in Rockland County four years ago.

The LaFayette district could, however, apply for a waiver of salary cap rule, but Lavine and the district say they aren’t going to do that.

“I’m not interested in double-dipping,” said Lavine, who said she and her husband have worked for years and are financially stable. “After retiring, I found that I have more to give, and I’m honored to be LaFayette’s educational leader.”

William Silky, a partner in Castallo & Silky, a consulting firm that helps place school administrators, called Lavine’s salary “very unusual…and maybe even unheard of.”

LaFayette school board members aren’t complaining.

“We got very lucky,” said Board President Tom Scofield. “A lot of planets lined up for us with this, and it will save our taxpayers money. We know it’s an unusual arrangement, but we think as time goes on and the pool of superintendent candidates continues to tighten, you may see things like this happen more often.”

Scofield said “we are tremendously excited and not just for the financial benefit, but also the amount of experience she brings to the job.”

LaFayette district officials asked an actuary to determine the savings to the district factoring in the cost of the health insurance. Scofield said it will cost the district $269,000 to provide lifetime health insurance coverage for Lavine, which results in savings of $135,000 a year or $540,000 over the four-year contract.

Lavine said she retired as assistant superintendent for pupil services/director of personnel to care for an ill family member, and now wants to return to work as a superintendent. She did some interim work in Chittenango and Onondaga and then was appointed interim director of special education at LaFayette on a per diem basis.

LaFayette officials then asked her if she’d consider being their leader when current superintendent Peter Tigh announced his retirement.

New York state allows government employees to take both a pension and salary, although most government workers must obtain special approval to collect both. Double-dipping has become controversial, and Silky said it’s been more difficult to secure waivers because of that.

In 2013, 106 of the 165 waiver applications received by the New York State Education Department were approved, officials said.

“People can get waivers, but you don’t really ever feel right taking one,” said Tim Hoefer, executive director of the Empire Center for Public Policy, a watchdog group. “Kudos to them – this seems very fiscally responsible.”

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