CENTRAL FALLS — Police officers and firefighters dominated the top 10 list of municipal wage earners in the city, with overtime and retirement packages driving up their gross pay.

For the school district, the top wage earner was the assistant superintendent of schools, Ewa Pytowska, who has worked in Central Falls for 11 years. Pytowska, who is currently on medical leave, grossed $101,853.92 in 2006.

Kathy Gaouette, the director of human service for the school district, said that during 2006, the year figures were collected by The Journal, William Holland was serving as an interim schools superintendent while the district looked to hire a permanent replacement. Holland worked for the district for eight months.

Pytowska’s pay was followed by Paulo J. Silva, the assistant principal of Calcutt Middle School, who grossed $99,300.50. Silva will retire in June.

Gaouette said that Silva’s salary, set at $91,686, was augmented by a reimbursement of between $6,000 and $7,000 for health benefits that he gets through his wife’s plan, and longevity pay. She said the same was the case of Gerry Manning, who at the time was an assistant principal at Central Falls High School and grossed $96,973.19 to come in number four on the list. Manning’s base pay was set at $91,730 and the rest came from reimbursements for health benefits, she said.

The Journal compiled the list as part of a statewide look at school and municipal payroll spending during calendar year 2006. Figures were given to the newspaper by school and municipal officials. The state Open Records Law requires public agencies to make available certain public information about their employees, including names, job titles and pay. The Journal’s compilation looked at the total gross pay, meaning the total amount paid to the employee before taxes are taken out. It does not include the cost of benefits, but it does include base salary or wages and other “extras” such as overtime, stipends and severance packages.

Number seven on the school employee list, Calcutt Middle School gym teacher Anthony Ficocelli, who grossed $95,526.89, drew attention to what school officials refer to as overages, the money teachers get when they have more students in their class than allowed by contract.

Supt. of Schools Frances Gallo said that Ficocelli’s salary of $66,744 was augmented by $28,000 of overage costs. He also received a stipend for his work as an assistant football coach.

According to the teachers’ contract, high school and middle school gym teachers cannot have any more than 30 students to a class, Gaouette said. If the teacher has more than that, he or she receives $27 per student prorated based on the proportion of time the gym teacher has the student for that day. Gaouette said that the way the schedule is driven, most students ended up in gym class at Calcutt.

Gallo said the district is working to stop overages

“We cannot have overages like this. This can put the system out of business. Gallo said that in 2006-07 the district spent more than $200,000 in overages. This year so far, the school district has spent $60,000. None of it is coming from Calcutt and the majority of it is coming from the high school, she said. Gallo said she and others have been working on the problem. This year the district tried to relieve overage by hiring an additional physical education teacher to lessen the numbers of students in gym classes.

On the municipal side, the top three wage earners were two retiring police officers and a lieutenant who has worked nearly 20 years on the force.

Capt. Paul E. Nadeau, who grossed $92,995.41, was the top municipal wage earner. He retired in 2006. His base pay was augmented by $47,981 in a severance package that included reimbursement for unused sick time and some overtime, according to Police Chief Joseph Moran.

Maj. John Rene Desmarais who retired from the force in May 2006, was the third top wage earner grossing $74,857, which included a $48,738.74 severance package and reimbursement for unused sick time and vacation pay. Desmarais, 49, who was second in command, said he hardly ever took vacation time and never called in sick during his years on the force. He is now the Cumberland police chief.

Lt. Rene J. Ogni, with nearly 20 years on the force, was the second highest wage earner, grossing $84,257.41 that included $30,803 in overtime.

On the top 10 list were firefighters Lt. Keith Sullivan and Lt. Kenneth Gamache, who earned $74,272.63 and $72,544.42, respectively, putting them in fourth and eighth place.

The men’s salaries include more than $44,000 collectively in overtime. Fire Chief Renee Coutu said since 2004 when fire codes changed in the state, the two men had worked their regular shifts and then worked overtime doing rough inspections of fire alarm installations around the city. Coutu is 10th on the list with a salary of $71,332.52.

tpina@projo.com