Norwin OKs contract for Superintendent Natalie McCracken

Norwin’s new superintendent, Natalie McCracken, has a five-year contract with a 4.2% increase in the base salary she was to receive as the school district’s assistant superintendent.

School board directors Christine Baverso, Bill Bojalad, Raymond Kocak, Tim Kotch Sr., Heath Shrum and Matt Thomas voted to approve the deal at a special meeting last week. Directors Alex Detschelt, Shawna Ilagan and Nina Totin were absent from the meeting.

McCracken, who assumed her new role on Monday, succeeds Jeff Taylor, who announced in January he was resigning as of June 30. Taylor, who was hired as Norwin’s superintendent in 2019, has taken a job as assistant superintendent at the Carlynton School District in Allegheny County.

McCracken will receive a salary of $179,500 in the first year of the agreement that is set to expire on June 30, 2029, with minimal annual increases of 2% if her job performance in the previous school year is rated as proficient by the board. She also is eligible for additional salary increases or merit bonuses or incentives, if approved by the board, according to the contract. The board cannot cut her salary unless McCracken agrees to it.

McCracken was hired as the superintendent on a 5-4 vote on June 17, with Baverso joining all three directors who did not attend the June 27 special meeting, in opposing her hiring.

McCracken “will do a fantastic job” in her new role, Kocak said at the June 27 meeting.

“I really like the goals you set for yourself. They’re pretty high goals,” Kocak added.

Thomas, the school board president, could not be reached for comment about the board’s plans for filling the now-vacant assistant superintendent post.

In hiring McCracken, Norwin will be paying significantly less money for the superintendent’s position than Hempfield Area, which will pay Mark Holtzman, who was hired in May, a salary of $208,000 for the 2024-25 school year. Hempfield has a student population of about 5,350, compared with Norwin’s 5,000 students, according to the websites for both school districts.

Her contract for the assistant superintendent’s job would have given McCracken a base salary $172,231 in the 2024-25 school year, plus 1.5% annual pay raises for proficient or distinguished ratings on her job performance. She received that new contract in March.

McCracken had received an additional $7,500 for opting out of Norwin’s medical insurance coverage. The superintendent’s contract would give her 40% of the district’s cost of medical insurance, if she continues to opt out. The district does save 60% of the cost of the insurance coverage.