‘CHRISTMAS IS FOR COPS AND KIDS — AND UMASS’
PAYOUTS, LED BY SCHOOL HEADS, JUMP FOR 5TH YEAR
The former president of Bristol Community College scored a $131,000 payout when he retired last year, state payroll data show, adding to a lengthy list of ex-college heads whose parting paychecks have riled Beacon Hill watchdogs.
John “Jack” Sbrega’s previously unreported payout was among the highest — and featured in $77.7 million in total buyouts — awarded last year, which included fellow ex-president Daniel Asquino of Mount Wachusett Community College and his $265,000 golden parachute in sick time.
The hefty statewide sum marked the fifth straight year the state’s total buyout checks have jumped, according to a Herald analysis, and comes amid warnings from state comptroller Tom Shack that more of the state’s workforce is careening toward retirement age.
Sbrega, who retired in August, collected $131,020 through a mix of unused personal, sick and vacation time, according to Kevin Spirlet, a Bristol Community College spokesman. Spirlet said a breakdown of Sbrega’s unused leave was not available late yesterday afternoon, but he noted that Sbrega’s sick time was calculated under rules that cap any payout to 20 percent of his leftover leave.
“He was a man who worked very hard over 17 years at the college and took very little down time,” Spirlet said.
Reached at home, Sbrega declined comment on his payout, saying he didn’t have the figures in front of him. He made $246,000 in his final full year at the college in 2016, and got $280,000 total last year after the buyout.
“They’re all based on the existing policy,” Sbrega said of the packages. “People may not like policy but that’s what it’s been . ... I would have nothing further to add.”
Beyond Sbrega and Asquino — whose total package neared $334,000 with unused vacation time — the top buybacks featured other retiring education officials, including Bryan Harvey, who left UMass as an associate chancellor and chief planning officer in October and got a $140,940 buyout.
Former state police Superintendent Richard McKeon had the secondhighest buyout among all ex-state employees at $161,688, which included 3,871 unused sick hours and 560 vacation hours, state police officials have said.
Payouts to retirees have become a growing concern on Beacon Hill, where state Inspector General Glenn Cunha warned lawmakers last fall that taxpayers are on the hook for a staggering $558 million in unused sick and vacation time.
About 30 percent of the state’s workforce is already eligible to retire, Cunha wrote in a letter to the heads of Committee on Public Service, urging them to take quick action in the face of the looming financial hit. He recommended slapping a lid on sick leave payouts at 200 hours.
“This is not a distant risk,” Cunha said at the time.
As of yesterday, the committee had not yet scheduled a hearing on Cunha’s recommendations or other bills seeking to rein in sick and vacation leave payments.