Cambridge Ratifies Young’s Contract

The Cambridge Public School Committee ratified the employment contract for the district’s new superintendent yesterday evening, finalizing the appointment of Jeffrey M. Young, the current head of Newton Public Schools.

The three-year contract—which was signed last Wednesday by Young and Mayor E. Denise Simmons on behalf of the school committee—was reviewed by the committee in a private session but passed unanimously during the public portion of the meeting.

While Young was voted in as the district’s new superintendent on April 7, his formal selection was contingent upon the establishment of a contract that would satisfy both Young and the school committee.

Young is scheduled to begin his term on July 6, 2009, but will begin a five-day transition period before that date, during which he will be taking vacation time from his post at Newton.

According to the contract, Young will be paid an annual beginning salary $215,000, an amount which will increase after each subsequent year of service. After one year, his salary will be raised to $221,000, and after two years, it will be raised to $227,000.

These amounts are lower than his present salary in Newton, according to school committee member Luc D. Schuster, who also served as the co-chair of the superintendent search committee. Young is currently paid approximately $248,000 as superintendent of Newton Public Schools.

Although Young’s term is set to end in 2012, the agreement allows for the school committee to vote to renew his contract in July 2011.

Although Simmons was one of two school committee members who voted against Young, she said that the ratification of the contract “wasn’t a contentious process at all.”

“We have one goal in mind: to do best for all children. When that is your driving theme, you lay down your differences,” she said, adding that this does not necessarily mean the committee members have differences on this issue.

The committee responsible for the facilitating the superintendent’s transition into the district will meet today and Friday at the mayor’s office.

—Staff writer Sofia E. Groopman can be reached at segroopm@fas.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Michelle L. Quach can be reached at mquach@fas.harvard.edu.