By Stephanie Mariel Petrellese

The Garden City Board of Education approved a three-year contract extension for Superintendent Dr. Robert Feirsen at their February 25th meeting.

His salary will increase from $204,800 to $234,500 for the current year. The Board appraises and decides on salary increases for the superintendent and assistant superintendents at the end of every school year. Dr. Feirsen and the assistant superintendents are not governed by an administrative union contract.

School Board President Kenneth Monaghan defended the administrators' salaries. "Laws, regulations and rules set forth by the state give boards of education and administrators very few carrots and almost no sticks," he explained. "Therefore, motivating staff to move our program forward in the correct direction-the direction that the community wants to see, the Board wants to see, and the administration wants to see-is really very dependent on having people who can motivate and instruct our people in moving in the correct direction. We are very fortunate to have a very gifted team of senior central administrators, as well as building administrators. It is very much in the interest of the Board and community to maintain those people for as long as we can, and that takes money."

He said the salaries are "within average range." "We do not think as a Board that we are paying these people salaries that are at all inappropriate, and we are quite pleased with their performance."

Dr. Feirsen, a former deputy superintendent in the Manhasset School District, began his current position with the Garden City School District in the summer of 2005.