The number of school district employees outside of New York City who are paid more than $100,000 has jumped nearly 50 percent since 2008.

Yet, that’s still just half of what the highest-paid school employee in the Mohawk Valley made during the last year, according to data from the Empire Center in Albany

Last year, New Hartford Superintendent Robert J. Nole brought home $205,475, not including benefits, according to the Empire Center’s data, which is pulled from state pension system records. That figure is about $13,000 higher than Nole’s regular salary of $192,610, as stated by the district’s school board.

An Empire Center representative said items such as bonuses, an extra pay period in a given fiscal year or severance pay can result in reported annual earnings higher than an employee’s regular salary.

Nole has received salary increases of about $52,000 since 2009, about a 25 percent increase in five years.

And early last month, the New Hartford Board of Education approved a contract amendment of a one-time $6,000 stipend. According to that meeting’s minutes, the payment was “in lieu of an increase in base salary during the 2014-15 school year.”

Board President John Jadhon said Nole’s salary is justified.

“With all the changes with the Common Core and new state mandates, all administrative jobs have been made much harder,” Jadhon said. “His compensation reflects the complexity and magnitude of the job.”

Nole wouldn’t comment.

The other top area superintendent earnings last year as reported by the Empire Center are:

* Holland Patent’s Kathleen Davis: $192,866.

* Whitesboro’s David Langone: $188,237.

* Former Camden Superintendent Jeffrey Bryant: $182,630.

* Utica’s Bruce Karam: $178,500.

Tim Hoefer, executive director of the Empire Center, said no one can argue that Nole’s salary isn’t a lot of money. The Empire Center released the top paid school employees list earlier this month.

“You have to make a judgment based on the value of the dollars you’re getting,” Hoeffer said. “You have to look at the size of the administration. Is performance increasing? Are we getting the value we’re paying him? What do we get for that extra 25 percent?”

Hoeffer said it’s also important to consider the salaries of comparative and area districts.

New Hartford, with an enrollment of about 2,600, is similar in size to the Vernon-Verona Sherrill and Camden districts.

VVS Superintendent Martha Group made $162,640 last year and Camden Superintendent Mary Lynne Szczerba earned $136,308.

Statewide, without including New York City, the highest-paid school employee was Joseph Ogeka Jr., assistant superintendent of Riverhead Central Schools, who was paid $376,340.

“Pay is up right across the scales,” Hoeffer said. “But when you’re talking pay for administration, you have to look at it case by case. What are the biggest cost drivers?”

Gov. Andrew Cuomo proposed a tax cap as a result of the high salaries of school officials in 2011. Though he said it would have saved taxpayers $15 million, the proposal was unsuccessful.

He wanted the maximum pay for enrollment more than 6,500 students to be capped at $175,000.

“We have $500,000 school superintendents,” said Cuomo, whose salary is $179,000. “We can’t pay those kind of salaries. Why they get paid more than the governor of the state, I really don’t understand.”

© 2014 Utica Observer-Dispatch