School Superintendent Eileen Williams tops the list earning $136,204 a year. Assistant Superintendent Susan Skeiber, Business Manager Mickey McGonagle, the principals and some of the administrators and teachers of each of the town's four schools were also among the top 30 earners.

"The people on the list represent a high level of academic preparedness and experience in education," Williams said.

Williams holds three degrees including a doctorate. Although she has held the position of superintendent in town for 13 years, she has been a superintendent for 19 years working in Raynham before being hired in Duxbury.

Williams said her responsibility as superintendent involves providing guidance and support for the school system. She oversees the budget, transportation, all school personnel and all school facilities. Williams also works closely with the elected members of the school committee.

"I have a large responsibility to the school committee to provide each member with the information needed to make informed decisions," Williams said.

Williams also serves as a liaison between the schools and the community. She meets regularly with the presidents of the schools' various PTAs and PTOs. Williams advocated for ConnectEd, which is a rapid phone dialing program designed to keep parents informed about everything from snow days to school plays. Williams likens her post to that of a corporate CEO sans the extensive support staff.

"My position is similar in some ways to a CEO of a private organization," she said. "However, the school system does not have the same administrative support. There's no marketing or public relations department here."

Williams enjoys her time in Duxbury because it reminds her of her hometown of Holbrook.

"The community offers a real breadth of program, but it's small enough to allow me to get to know people in the community like the fire chief, police chief and DPW workers. I also like the fact that I work with different department heads in town," Williams said.

Duxbury residents feel Williams' salary is in line with the many duties she must perform.

"Her salary doesn't surprise me," a Myrtle Street man said. "The schools are the backbone of the community."

"These are all very important people," Chris Sullivan said referring to the top 30 town earners. "I agree with the superintendent's salary because her position is significant."

"The superintendent is the biggest boss," Ed Keating said. "She has the most employees."

In fact, Town Treasurer Beth Conway said over 500 employees work at the schools in town during the academic year. Duxbury's school department is home to the most town employees. Conway said the list of the top 30 earners can be deceiving because many teachers earned more in salary than some of the safety personnel on the list. About 40 teachers earned between $65,000 and $70,000. About 80 teachers made between $70,001 and $83,000. However, teachers are not eligible for overtime, while safety personnel can earn tens of thousands of dollars in overtime and extra details.

For example, Conway said Police Officer James Tougas earned $57,960 last year. However, he made almost the same amount as his salary about $53,800 in overtime and extra details. His salary, his overtime and his details as well as his benefits of $725 landed him in the number two spot on the top 30 earners list right behind Williams.

Police Chief Mark DeLuca, whose position is salaried, said 28 percent of Tougas' salary did not come out of the town's pocket. He said the state paid some of this percentage based on the Quinn Bill, which is a career incentive pay program offering base salary increases to officers for furthering their education. DeLuca said Tougas holds a bachelor's degree.

DeLuca said the private details for companies like Verizon make up the other portion of Tougas' salary not paid for by the town.

"Overtime pay is the amount of hours a person works at the department on the town's behalf. These are hours officers spend away from their families," DeLuca said. "Officers can only work 16 hours straight before they are mandated to take eight hours off."

The overtime breakdown is similar over at the fire department. Fire Captain Peter Goggin has a salary of $61,842. He earned an additional $34,704 in overtime last year. Combine these with his benefits of $725 and Goggin places seventh on the list. Fire Chief Kevin Nord said three of his four captains earned more last year when one of them left on an extended medical leave.

"One of our captains was out on medical leave from May 26, 2005 until last month," Nord said. "When we lost a captain, the three remaining captains were asked to step up and take the overtime."

Nord, whose position in salaried, said Town Manager Richard MacDonald helped minimize the overtime by authorizing Nord to hire an additional firefighter in October 2005, instead of waiting until January 2006. This hiring allowed Nord to pay his staff at "straight time."

As with Williams' salary, residents seemed to think the earnings of emergency responders were justified.

"As you get older, you appreciate having the fire and police departments around," said Ginny Dunmore of Bay Road. "As a former teacher and director of the Berrybrook School on Winter Street and a mother of three kids that went through Duxbury's schools, I also support the school personnel on the list."

"I'm surprised the fire chief isn't higher on the list," Joan Boschen of Beechwood Lane said.

Fifty percent of the top 30 earners were school officials, 30 percent were police personnel and 13 percent were fire personnel. Only two names on the list DPW Director Tom Daley and Town Manager and Director of Inspectional Services Richard MacDonald were based in town hall. These were the two people John Stanton, co-owner of The Studio, felt should earn the most money.

"Responsibility wise, the town manager should be at the top," Stanton said. "The buck stops with him. The DPW director has a huge job with all of the people he oversees. I think he does a phenomenal job."