01:00 AM EST on Wednesday, March 31, 2004

BY ALICE GOMSTYN
Journal Staff Writer

EAST GREENWICH -- School Committee Chairwoman Sue P. Duff yesterday dismissed recent criticism that the terms of Supt. Michael W. Jolin's contract are too generous and place an unnecessary burden on local taxpayers.

Jolin's contract, she said, is in line with "standard educational practice."

"This is not a big deal," she said.

In recent opinion pieces in the Journal and other newspapers, former School Committee member Donald Hawthorne cited the benefits provided to Jolin -- including 25 vacation days a year and a severance package that takes effect even if he were fired for committing a crime -- as an example of overspending.

In an interview yesterday, Hawthorne called Jolin's contract "obscene."

"I am offended for the working families and retirees of East Greenwich who are being taxed to death by sweetheart deals," he said.

But Duff said that Jolin's benefits are comparable to those received by superintendents in other school districts.

Jolin agreed.

Defending his contract as fair, Jolin said yesterday that in some respects, his current benefits fall short of what he received while serving as a superintendent in Johnston more than two years ago. He said, for instance, that his Johnston contract included more than 30 days of vacation, in contrast to East Greenwich's 25.

He also said that the money he is entitled to should he be fired -- about half his $127,500 salary -- comes with the stipulation that he would waive his rights to sue the school district for his termination.

"It's actually in the School Committee's favor," Jolin said.

Duff said that increasing competition among school districts to hire qualified superintendents accounts for what some might view as overly generous contractual terms.

"You make a contract according to what the marketplace is," said Duff. "That's just what the marketplace is."

Hawthorne rejected that explanation.

"I think that's a made-up answer," he said.

Another outspoken critic of Jolin's contract is School Committee member Vincent Bradley. Last month, Bradley was the sole committee member to vote against extending Jolin's three-year contract by one year, to 2006.

Bradley agrees with Hawthorne's criticism that the contract is too generous. But he has also raised another concern: that Jolin's contract might hurt continuing contract negotiations between the district and its teachers.

"Here we are responding to our people's demands that we cut down on salary and benefits for school teachers while the superintendent is out front, making sure he gets big bites of the apple," he said.

But both Duff and an official at National Education Association Rhode Island, the parent of the East Greenwich teachers union, denied that Jolin's contract would affect negotiations, which began last January.

"Will someone mention it? Maybe," said Robert A. Walsh Jr., the executive director of NEARI. "But it's not going to be the issue of the day."