[Ed note: My Southborough accepts signed letters to the editor submitted by Southborough residents. Letters may be emailed to mysouthborough@gmail.com.
The following letter is from Roger Challen (a member of the Southborough School Committee).]
To the Editor:
I found myself reading through the letter exchange among Al Hamilton (Letter: The debt we never talk about), Karen Shimkus and Erin McMurray, and I would like to comment.
I found Ms. McMurray’s information to be quite compelling.
But Ms. Shimkus made a statement regarding Town budget challenges that concerned me. She said , “…that said, our superintendent makes more than the Governor of Massachusetts”. Of course, I cannot say that this was intentionally misleading, but in my view it was, in fact, at best, misleading.
Southborough taxpayers’ allocation for the Superintendent’s annual salary is $96,000.
The annual base salary for the Governor of Massachusetts is approximately $243,000 per year (as of 2025–2026 after recent increases). Her total compensation can exceed $300,000 annually when including benefits such as housing and other allowances.
For any taxpayer that believes the $96K allocated expense for Southborough is excessive for a Superintendent of Schools, I advise them to compare this amount to the salaries of other Superintendents who work in similar communities. You will find the Southborough cost to be one of the bargains.
Roger Challen
29 Oak Hill Road
I asked Roger Challen for clarification on the Superintendent’s total salary. He explained that the total salary is $238K, slightly less than the Governor’s base salary. (But again, he stressed that the Governors comes with perks that can be valued as exceeding $300K.)
Challen was worried that in the context of comments about Southborough’s budget burdens, most readers would misinterpret the original comment about the salary as being what Southborough taxpayers are responsible for.
Southborough is responsible for 40% of the NSBORO Superintendent’s, salary — based on his role as head of both Southborough K-8 schools and Algonquin.