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This is an education in extravagance.
The Syosset Central School District, which serves an enclave of gated communities, ritzy eateries and children’s boutiques like “Spoiled Rotten,” takes the crown in employee compensation.
The school superintendent, Carole Hankin — who oversees 6,687 kids in 10 schools — is the highest-paid in the state with $506,322 in total compensation. She collects a $386,868 salary, $67,454 in fringe benefits and $52,000 in retirement funds and expenses including use of a “late model car,” plus gas.
By contrast, New York City Chancellor Cathie Black, in charge of 1.1 million students and 1,600 schools, takes home a $250,000 salary, plus health and pension benefits. She gets a driver.
Hankin’s generous deal could end when her contract expires. Gov. Cuomo last week proposed a cap on school superintendent salaries outside New York City at $179,000.
But the crackdown would not apply to underlings whose pay exceeds the limit. Hankin’s deputy superintendent, Jeffrey Streitman, collects $382,382 in salary, benefits and perks. An assistant superintendent gets $238,221.
At least 37 other administrators take home $118,000 to $201,000 in salary. Even gym teachers score six figures, one making $145,000.
The Syosset teachers union loves Hankin. Union president Jeffrey Rozran blasted Cuomo in a statement: “Why is he treating her with the disrespect one would expect from an attorney general to an evildoer, instead of the respect due to a valued public servant?” Rozran, who teaches English, makes $129,818.
After state taxpayers kick in about $10 million, the district’s $188.8 million budget is bankrolled by local taxes.
A Syosset resident with a $962,000 home pays more than $23,000 in taxes — including $16,500 for schools alone.
Residents and parents are fed up.
“It’s outrageous,” said a mom of twin boys in South Woods Middle School. “My husband and I are physicians, and we can’t afford this lifestyle anymore. We’re thinking of selling the house.”
“Her salary is way, way out of whack,” resident Malvin Tarkin said of Hankin. “She lives like a queen.”
No one denies Syosset schools are top-notch. The award-winning high school offers Japanese and Russian among other foreign languages, and boasts an FM radio station.
But senior Josh Schoenbart, 17, who placed second in the regionals of the Science Olympiad and is a world-class rower being wooed by Harvard and Cornell, said he has never even spotted Hankin in the hall or a classroom.
“She’s just the woman you see in the newspaper with a lot of money next to her,” he said.
Hankin, 68, a grandma of nine, lives in Purchase with her husband, Joseph, president of Westchester Community College. They also own an oceanfront mansion in Westhampton Beach, LI. Her friends include jewelry designer Judith Ripka, Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D-Westchester) and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Syosset’s schools chief for 21 years, Hankin has rankled some parents. Last year, she mandated that seventh-graders take etiquette classes. She suspended a kid in 2003 for writing a paper on the slasher flick “Halloween.”
A 2005 audit by the state Comptroller’s Office found Syosset spending on frills like $38,600 for cellphones and $125,000 for meals and hotels. Another audit will begin soon, said a spokesman for state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.
Last month, Hankin volunteered to forgo her annual raise, as did the staff.
Her office on Friday referred a reporter to the district’s public-relations firm, which could not discuss her contract. Marc Herman, president of the Board of Education, was out of town.
Syosset Central School District at a glance:
6,687 students
623 classroom teachers
10 schools (one high school, two junior highs, seven elementary)
$188.8 million 2010-11 budget
1% of students need free or reduced price lunches
97% students are white or Asian (3% black or Latino)
83% of third-graders scored proficient or higher on this year’s state’s English test; 90% on math exam.
Syosset school compensation
* $506,322: Carole Hankin, superintendent
* $382,382: Jeffrey Streitman, deputy superintendent
** $238,221: Joseph LaMelza, assistant superintendent
$145,114: Dean Strohmayer, gym teacher
$129,818: Jeffrey Rozran, English teacher
*Includes fringe benefits, retirement funds, perks
** Includes fringe benefits