Mayor Joshua García and Interim Superintendent Anthony Soto.

With the return of the management of the Holyoke Public Schools to the city on July 1, Anthony Soto, formerly the state-appointed receiver, now becomes interim superintendent, appointed by the city’s School Committee. The position comes with a first-year annual salary of $231,705.

It is the same salary that the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education negotiated with Soto, which, upon becoming a city employee with a one-year contract, remains the same.

Part of Soto’s contract contains the following terms:

“The Superintendent’s term of employment shall commence on  July 1, 2025 and terminate on June 30, 2026. For purposes of this agreement, a “contract  year” shall run from July 1 through June 30. 

The Interim Superintendent understands that the Holyoke School Committee will be  conducting a search for a permanent superintendency. 

As soon as practicable, the Committee shall provide the Interim Superintendent with one hundred twenty (120) days written notice that the Committee intends to hire a permanent  Superintendent. On the date of hire of a permanent Superintendent, this Agreement shall  terminate immediately, and the Interim Superintendent shall be paid any salary owed to  him at the time of termination of this Agreement. 

In the event that the Committee has not hired a permanent Superintendent by July 1, 2026,  this Agreement may be extended for an additional one (1) year term beginning on July 1,  2026 and ending June 30, 2027. “

Area fully appointed superintendents are generally paid less than Holyoke’s schools chief.

For example:

• AGAWAM: Agawam Public Schools superintendent, Sheila Hoffman, is $183,964, with a 2% increase on July 1, 2025.
• AMHERST: Ericilda Xiomara Herman, Amherst-Pelham Regional schools superintendent, $176,500. The student population is just under 1,200.
• LAWRENCE: Ralph Carrero, schools superintendent, is paid $260,000 annually, overseeing a school district of 14,000 students and roughly 1,400 teachers. The school system is working itself out of receibership, imposed by the state in 2012.
• SPRINGFIELD: Sonia Dinnall, school superintendent, has worked as an educator for 33 years, the first female and second Black educator to lead the school system of about 23,700 students. Her salary is $285,000.
• WESTFIELD: Stefan Czaporowski, will receive $186,310 effective July 1, 2025, with a 2% increase each year for the next three years, according to Masslive’s reporting. Student population is just under 5,000.

The state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education sets the salaries for receivers while each municipality negotiates with their respective superintendents.

In a wide-ranging interview this week with Mayor Joshua García and Soto, they talked about many aspects of the schools’ leadership returning to the School Committee and voters.

An excerpt of the interview is available here.

More to follow, stay tuned.