Superintendent Beck gets salary adjustment for doctoral achievement

The Sparta Township Board of Education on August 25 approved an amendment to Superintendent Matthew Beck’s contract increasing the annual salary by 1% retroactive to July 1, 2022.

Beck’s contract, which runs through June 30, 2024, originally called for Beck to receive annual 3% increases after the contract’s first year, which concluded on June 30, 2022. The amendment acknowledges that Beck recently achieved a doctoral degree and increases his annual increase to 4%. He will receive another 4% increase on July 1, 2023.

All other provisions of the contract remain unchanged.

The amendment passed 6-1-1. Board of Education member Lauren Collier voted against it and school board President Craig Palleschi abstained because his wife is a substitute teacher in the district.

Sparta resident Walter Knapp said he believed increasing Beck’s raise was premature because he had only been with the district for one year, and there continues to be room for growth.

Another Sparta resident, Leanne Pitzer, acknowledged Beck’s obtaining his doctorate was a “great accomplishment,” but questioned how it was fair to teachers who only get a 2.8% raise, after an “arduous negotiation period.”