Administrator pay resolved (08/13/2008)

A week after struggling to find common ground on a contentious issue, members of the Jay School board reached that ground relatively quickly.

The board, which struggled last week to bridge philosophical gaps on pay and other benefits for the corporation's administrative staff, agreed to a memorandum of understanding that sets target goals for those positions and gives current personnel raises of between 2.75 and 4 percent for the new school year.

Those who are at the index level will receive the 2.75 percent raise, while those whose salary is not at the index level will receive up to the 4 percent level.

The new MOU also includes language that could lead to the elimination or phase-out of $1 annual health insurance coverage for six high-level administrators. The $1 insurance issue will be reviewed by a committee of board members and superintendent Tim Long.

Indexing of administrator salaries, a concept recommended by Long as a way to standardize pay, was adopted along with language capping raises at 4 percent.

The indexing is based on the highest current salary level for a teacher with a master's degree. The index range goes from the pay for the superintendent at 2.0 (or twice current top teacher pay) down to the food service director at .91 percent (or 91 percent of that top teacher level).

"After reviewing ... the pay and salary scales (of comparable corporations), I think we're in line on some of those pay issues," board member Jay Halstead said Monday. Halstead, who was vocal in his opposition to the memorandum as proposed last week, said that "we've come a long way ... I would be in favor of the (MOU) the way it's presented."

"It was done ... to give us some benchmarks for the board to look at ... we'll support it however it comes out," Long said.

Language in the MOU states that the indexing is a goal and therefore allows flexibility in salary issues.

That flexibility is reflected in the pay approved Monday for interim Jay County High School principal Phil Ford, who will be paid $82,223 for the 2008-09 school year. That reflects an increase of about $9,000 from the pay earned last school year by Jeremy Gulley, who resigned last month to become principal at Huntington North High School. Ford has served for the past four years as assistant principal/athletics director at JCHS. Current Jay School staff members are being interviewed to fill that position, Long said Monday.

The other significant issues discussed Monday included the $1 health insurance for the six top administrators, and a proposal for a $1,000 stipend, or bonus, to principals whose buildings earn status as a Four Star School or which meet Annual Yearly Progress goals established as part of the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

A committee comprised of board members Mike Shannon, Mike Masters and Halstead will meet with administrators currently receiving the $1 insurance - including the superintendent, assistant superintendent, special education director, business manager, JCHS principal and JCHS dean of students.

Other administrators, along with all certified staff (teachers), pay $348 per year for a single plan, and 20 percent of the annual premium (about $3,500) for a family plan.

Non-certified, or support, staff currently pay in excess of $5,200 for the family plan.

There was some division on the stipends for the Four Star and AYP designations, but all six board members present Monday - Greg Wellman, Frank Vormohr, Larry Paxson, Shannon, Masters and Halstead - voted to approve the MOU.

"Maybe (the stipend) is a carrot out there to keep them on track" towards attendance and other goals, said Paxson, a former Jay Schools administrator.

Shannon asked if the proposal could be made into a "two-edged sword," with a reduction in pay for those administrators whose schools don't reach the goals. The answer from corporation attorney Phil Frantz, in a word, was "no," unless contracts were re-written and the administrators agreed to those terms.

Also Monday, the board extended the contracts for three varsity sports coaches through 2011.

Those extensions were granted to Craig Teagle (JCHS boys basketball), Kirk Comer (JCHS girls basketball) and Shane Hill (JCHS football). Each will be paid $8,500 annually to coach those positions.

In other business, board members:

•Were invited to a back-to-school breakfast Friday, the first day of work for teachers in the corporation. The first day of school for students will be Monday.

Long said about 20 new teachers have been hired. There are currently two teaching and four aid positions unfilled, but "by Friday we'll have everybody in place and ready to go."

•Learned that Long plans to advertise for a contract athletic trainer position. That position is currently filled, but has not been advertised for several years. Long said Monday pay for the position, including travel expenses, amounts to about $30,000 annually.

Vormohr, who served as physician for JCHS sports for several years, said he believes that the requirements and guidelines for the athletic trainer position need to be reviewed and updated to protect the school corporation from liability.

"We've been lucky at Jay County," not to have a serious injury or illness situation, Vormohr said.

Vormohr plans to work with Long on that process and present findings to the board at a later time.

•Approved salaries for buildings and grounds coordinator Ron Krieg and transportation coordinator Teresa Myers. Krieg will be paid $50,960 for the 2008-09 school year, and $52,998 in 2009-10. Myers' pay will be $48,800 for the current school year and $50,835 in 2009-10.

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