Schoen Will Earn $167,500 in Mahwah Post

Officials at a Mahwah Board of Education meeting Wednesday made official the lateral move of Superintendent Lauren Schoen from the Ramapo-Indian Hills School District to the Mahwah K-8 district.

The board approved a five-year contract for Schoen starting in July, which district business administrator Ed Deptula said will pay the most the district legally can.

“We are prepared to offer the maximum amount allowed [under the state’s superintendent salary cap], which is $167,500,” he said Wednesday. The contract is likely to also include a 15 percent merit-based pay raise, Deptula said.

Under the cap, superintendents are eligible for merit-based pay raises based on goals formulated by the school and reviewed by the county before the raises are approved, he said.

Schoen started her career as an elementary school teacher in Saddle River, and subsequently served as a vice principal in Oak Ridge, principal and assistant superintendent for curriculum in Hasbrouck Heights, and superintendent in Rochelle Park. She has been superintendent at Ramapo-Indian Hills since 2009.

The search for a permanent superintendent to replace Charles Montesano, who retired from Mahwah in 2011, “was an exhausting process,” Board President Tricia Shada said. Schoen’s application “stood out like a shining star. I can’t wait to welcome [her] to the district.”

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