Deptford’s school board extended its superintendent’s contract through 2031
The township's board of education approved the five-year contract for Superintendent Kevin Kanauss after holding a public hearing on the proposed contract Tuesday night.
The Deptford Township School District’s Board of Education has approved a new five-year contract for Superintendent Kevin Kanauss, guaranteeing his tenure through the 2030-31 school year.
The board approved the agreement after holding a public hearing on the proposed contract Tuesday night. It replaces his previous contract, reached in November 2024, that was scheduled to expire June 30, 2029.
Under the contract, Kanauss will be paid $197,500 annually, effective July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2027. After that his salary will increase incrementally, reaching $215,000 beginning July 1, 2030.
The new contract largely resembles the South Jersey district’s current salary agreement with Kanauss. His benefits package was mostly unchanged, too. His compensation is in line with what other superintendents in the region are paid.
Kanauss declined to comment Wednesday.
He began his career in the district in 2006 as a long-term middle and high school science substitute teacher. He later was a math teacher and a high school baseball coach. He was named superintendent in 2023.
The Gloucester County district landed in hot water that year when it announced a crackdown on unpaid school lunch accounts. The state ordered the district to rescind a controversial plan that would have served peanut butter or cheese sandwiches to students with delinquent accounts. A year later, the district scrapped a subscription busing plan that raised the ire of parents.
In the contract’s preamble, the Deptford board said it wanted to provide its superintendent “with a written employment contract in order to enhance administrative stability and continuity within the schools, which the board believes generally improves the quality of its overall educational program.”
The extension provides a measure of security for Kanauss and his tenure in the 4,100-student district. Districts may sign agreements with their school chiefs from three to five years. The contract automatically renews in July 2031, unless the board gives six months’ notice of plans not to renew the contract.
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