Which Gardner city and school employees earned the most in 2023?

School officials and members of the city’s police and fire departments were among the highest paid Gardner employees in fiscal 2023, which ran from July 2022 to June 2023.

Daniel Fields, who works for the Gardner Fire Department, was the highest earning city employee, earning $218,540 in FY23. He took home $209,140 during the previous year.

Dr. Mark Pellegrino, superintendent of Gardner Public Schools, was paid $182,916 for his services in 2023, compared to the $167,917 he was paid the previous year. Pellegrino was hired as the district’s superintendent in 2016.

Employees of the Gardner Police and Fire departments took the next three spots on the list. Detective Christopher Starzynski earned $164 274; Fire Department Lt. Eric Hulette took home $140,843; and Fire Capt. Craig Osowski made $140,422 in FY23.

Two women from school department among top 10 earners

Two women from the school department were among the top 10 earners in FY23. Catherine Goguen, chief academic officer, earned a salary of $137,888, and Joyce West, director of pupil personnel, took home $134,194.

The remainder of the top 10 earners in FY23 were made up of fire and police department employees. Firefighter Michael Bergeron earned $132,129; Police Department supervisor Roger Cormier took home $131,847; and firefighter Joseph Lynch earned $130,850.

Gardner had 1,062 employees on its FY23 payroll, and earnings for both city and school staff totaled $39,370,582. The payroll budget for the previous fiscal year was $38,680,128.

Here is a list of the top 10 earners in Gardner. For a list of all employees, please see our related story.

This article originally appeared on Gardner News: Gardner employee salaries for schools, police, fire for fiscal 2023