Who Makes What in School Superintendents' Salaries?

It's a toss up: the highest paid school superintendent in the state is Westport's at $285,000 a year and the lowest is Canterbury's at $82,000 a year. And in between, there's every figure imaginable.

Recently, the New Haven Register published a database of its review of the pay of 148 superintendents, along with links to their contracts. Click here to view the chart.

Besides their six-figure salaries, Connecticut school superintendents also command perks and bonuses, according to the report.

Along with its sister news organizations, including the Middletown Press and the Litchfield County Times, the Register found that the average pay for school superintendents in Connecticut is $164,000 and that they can significantly boost that pay with other negotiated perks and benefits, including compensation for unused sick time, meal allowances, travel pay and bonuses.

Clinton's School Superintendent, Jack Cross, earns $160,855, which places his annual salary just below the state average pay for a school leader. 

Of the 148 salaries listed, 28 superintendents earn more than $200,000 annually and get tens of thousands more each year in perks, the newspapers found. Many also get generous benefit packages that include up to a month of vacation time and several weeks of sick time that can be accrued and then paid out if unused.

Some of the highest paid include school leaders in Fairfield County including $285,000 for the Westport superintendent, $264,000 for Fairfield's, $252,000 for Darien's and $235,000 for the Greenwich superintendent.

The lowest paid include $82,000 in Canterbury, $124,000 in Eastford, $126,000 in Preston and $135,000 in Woodstock.

Numbers indicate full-time superintendents' base pay figures that are rounded down.