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Trumbull Board of Developmental Disabilities extends its superintendent’s contract
By Ed Runyan
NILES
The Trumbull County Board of Developmental Disabilities has approved a five-year extension of the contract of its superintendent, Edward J. Stark.
He has been superintendent since March 1, 2012 — nearly 21/2 years.
He will receive a 2.2 percent pay increase in the first year of his new contract, which begins Sept. 1, raising his salary from $97,500 to $100,000.
In the second and third years of his contract, his pay is likely to rise 1.5 percent because that is the increase called for in the contract for the agency’s bargaining-unit employees, said Kevin Reilly, board chairman.
Typically, management employees receive the same pay increase as bargaining-unit employees, but the board has not made a decision on that yet, Reilly said.
Stark’s pay increases in the fourth and fifth year are likely to match the terms in the next contract, Reilly said.
Stark, a Beaver Falls, Pa., native, has worked in the developmental-disabilities field for 25 years, eight of those at the Trumbull Board of DD before he became superintendent, six as assistant superintendent and as director of adult services.
Stark said the agency has made some “enormous strides” during his time as superintendent, placing more than 25 clients in jobs with private employers in a statewide project called the Employer First Initiative.
Before the program started, individuals eligible for services only had the option of working in the agency’s sheltered workshops. In private employment, clients earn at least minimum wage and “lead a more independent life,” Stark said.
This summer, some clients age 16 to 22 began acquiring employment skills through the organization’s agreement with the Trumbull Career and Technical Center and Trumbull County Educational Service Center.
Reilly said the board is “real pleased with the job he has done.” He said Stark has maintained “a very good labor-management relationship” and done a good job of keeping board members informed.