Superintendent of Schools pension correction

As we mentioned in our first post, we want to get to the truth - not just the rhetoric, and not just the impassioned anger and frustration that we and others as West Haven residents feel. Therefore, I must post a correction.

We had originally said that we had heard that Paul Tortora, as former superintendent of schools (retiring after only 4 years as superintendent), was receiving an 80% pension of his income. We were outraged, because we didn't understand that while Mr. Tortora had only been superintendent for 4 years, that he actually had over 30 years of service with the West Haven school system, and had served the 7 years prior as deputy superintendent.

Our apologies for the misinformation.

Our source for this information is the 11/05/2004 West Haven News article entitled School Board keeps Tortora.

Also in that article, however, it shows that the Board of Education had extended his contract to August 31, 2007 (from August 31, 2006)... and regarding pay:

According to the new contracts, both men will receive the same 3 percent salary increases in their final year that they are now guaranteed in the 2005-06 academic year.

By the end of 2007, Tortora will receive $146,260, up from $142,000, while Cavallaro's salary will get a boost from $122,000 to $125,660.

The only other new terms of the contracts include three additional vacation days, starting this academic year, as well as a $500 stipend each.