WORCESTER, MA — In August 2022, former Worcester superintendent Maureen Binienda interviewed with the Quaboag Regional School District school committee to become the district’s interim superintendent. She wanted the job, she told the members, because her time as an educator wasn’t over.
“I’m not ready to retire,” she said during an Aug. 15, 2022, meeting, according to the Worcester Telegram.
But at the time of the interview, Binienda was literally retired. She began collecting a nearly $175,000 annual pension on June 30, 2022, according to the State and Teachers Retirement Benefits database. The Quaboag school committee members would go on to hire Binienda, paying her $141,000 to serve as interim superintendent for 10 months — a salary that came on top of her pension.
Find out what's happening in Worcesterwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Binienda, who is now in her second year as Easthampton’s interim superintendent, has been able to stack her pension on top of six-figure salaries under the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) critical shortage waiver program. The waiver system allows retirees like Binienda to avoid strict rules on post-retirement public sector work that most government retirees in Massachusetts have to follow.
From Binienda’s perspective, the pension and interim superintendent salaries are totally separate: her pension is money she’s already earned, and the new salary is what she gets to do a hard job now.
Find out what's happening in Worcesterwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
“Business people retire and work for consulting, and they’re not taking their salary? It’s not different. You’re still working a full-time job,” she said this week, speaking while on vacation in St. Maarten.
According to documents provided by DESE, the Quaboag Regional School District was searching for an interim superintendent almost at the same time Binienda was ending her time in Worcester in 2022. The job posting opened on June 30 and closed on July 15, 2022. Binienda doesn’t recall the exact date, but said she probably applied for the position sometime that July. Her contract in Worcester ended June 30, 2022.
Binienda did not need a waiver for the Quaboag job in 2022, but did get one for the period between January and June 2023. As she neared the end of her Quaboag contract, the Massachusetts Association of School Committees (MASC) called to ask if she would be interested in the Easthampton job, she recalled.
The Easthampton School Committee hired Binienda for the fiscal year ending July 1, 2024, on a $157,000 salary. That upped her combined pay to an estimated $332,000, plus benefits like a $6,000 bi-weekly travel reimbursement, health insurance, 26 vacation days and $1,000 to maintain memberships in professional organizations, according to the contract.
The Easthampton School Committee in late 2023 extended Binienda’s contract for another year. Binienda got a 2 percent raise after negotiations this month, bringing her salary to about $160,000, plus the pension. She’ll serve as interim until June 30, 2025.
It’s uncommon for DESE to grant waivers for a second interim term, but Easthampton got permission after the district’s superintendent search blew up in 2023. The school committee hired Vito Perrone as superintendent, but then rescinded the offer after Perrone used the word “ladies” in an email. The incident made national news. The nearby Hampshire Regional School District in Westhampton hired Perrone as superintendent in June.
“The interview process was very traumatic for them … They received really tough criticism” Binienda said, referring to the Perrone incident. “They wanted another year to heal.”
Massachusetts has experienced lots of superintendent turnover recently, with districts from Wayland to Winchendon now searching for permanent superintendents. Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents Executive Director Mary Borque said her organization does not keep stats on how many retired superintendents return to work under the waiver system, but said it’s a good option for districts that need an experience at the top in a pinch.
“It happens when there are no qualified candidates to fill the position of superintendent; or, the previous superintendent left at a time of year when the school committee wants to provide a bridge in leadership until they can engage in a full search,” Borque said when asked about critical shortage waivers. “We are seeing more and more districts deciding to take their time and do fuller, more comprehensive searches, so providing a bridge between leaders makes sense.”
According to DESE, Binienda is the only retired Massachusetts superintendent working under a critical shortage waiver at the moment.
The emergency waiver system has been around for about 22 years, first created to fill superintendent jobs lost to early retirements, according to a 2016 Boston Globe article on the issue. The practice has been called “double-dipping” — exactly what the state’s pension work laws were designed to prevent.
Click Here: Germany National Team soccer tracksuit
The DESE commissioner and staff review each critical shortage waiver request to make sure districts are making real efforts toward hiring permanent superintendents. Easthampton School Committee Chair Laura Scott did not return multiple requests for comment about the status of the district’s superintendent search, but Binienda said the district has hired MASC for a new search.
Binienda is earning an estimated $100,000 more now than she did in her last year as Worcester’s superintendent, according to pay records. During an interview, Binienda guessed she’s “still not making as much” as new Worcester Superintendent Rachel Monárrez. Binienda is making more than Monárrez, who will earn $283,868 this fiscal year. She’ll also earn more than City Manager Eric Batista, who earned about $313,000 in 2023, according to city records.
In 2023, Binienda won a seat on the Worcester School Committee, an elected job that pays about $17,000 per year. This spring, Binienda led a charge to cut administrator salaries in Worcester by $500,000 with the district facing a more than $20 million budget shortfall. Asked about the contrast between accepting expanded pay in retirement and that effort, Binienda said Monárrez should’ve been able to handle the work of the administrators she wanted to cut. She also said she wanted the money directed lower down the chain so Worcester wouldn’t have to cut teacher jobs.
After her Easthampton contract ends, Binienda, 70, says she might look for a new interim role if the critical shortage waiver system is still in place. She estimates she has about five good years left in the workforce, and wants to make it to an even 50 years working in public education.
“It’s just another job on top of what you earned,” she said. “My retirement, I certainly earned it after 46 years in Worcester Public Schools.”
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.