GLOCESTER — The two highest paid employees in the School Department in 2006 were the two elementary school principals.

Fogarty Memorial principal Beth Groleau, who has been principal since 1995, was the department’s top earner with a salary of $90,851.

West Glocester Elementary School principal Lorraine Bowen, who joined the department in 1991, was second on the list with a salary of $84,408. She has been principal since 2006.

Town Finance Director Thomas Mainville said that Groleau and Bowen’s salaries, like other administrators, are based on individually negotiated contracts.

The eight other persons that round out the top 10 highest salaries in the town School Department are all teachers currently employed by the department.

There were 60 full-time teachers in the elementary schools in 2006 with gross salaries ranging from $40,000 to more than $73,000. Thirty-five of those teachers earned more than $65,000 in base pay alone.

According to the Glocester teachers’ union contract, during the 2005-2006 school year, salaries ranged from $36,587 for step one teachers and $63,191 for step 10 teachers. In 2006-2007, teachers’ salaries went up 4 percent, to $38,050 for first step teachers and $65, 719 for step 10 teachers.

The remaining extra pay earned by teachers came from longevity in the district, educational stipends and added responsibilities.

Teachers with 11 to 17 years in the district earned an extra $567 a year, while those with 18 to 24 years earned $824 and those with 25 years or more earned $1,133 in 2005-2006. Those rates increased by 4 percent the following year.

Holding an advanced degree or taking additional coursework beyond the bachelor’s degree warranted additional pay under the contract. Teachers with 15 hours of graduate work could earn $1,548 more a year; those with master’s degrees earned $2,112 more; and those with doctorates earned $2,781 more. Those rates also increased by 4 percent the following year.

Teachers could also earn an additional $1,000 in 2005-2006 as a student mentor or mentor coordinator, a number that increased the following year by 4 percent.

Compiled by Paul Edward Parker

THE PROVIDENCE JOURNAL

Source: Glocester School Dept.

pmarcelo@projo.com