Staff raises are approved

All Jay Schools administrators and support staff will get a raise.
Jay School Board voted Monday to give raises ranging between 1.5 and 6.7 percent to all Jay Schools administrators with the exception of superintendent Tim Long, who later announced his retirement, as well as a variety of per-hour and percentage raises to support staff. The board also extended administrative contracts through 2019.
The raises were part of an evening of financial discussions and decisions that also included receiving a financial report from Educational Services Company, reviewing the possibility of refinancing debt and setting substitute teacher pay.
In supporting the raises and contract extension, board president Kristi Betts said she felt it would be “disrespectful” to continue to expect administrators to work on one-year contracts.
The raises represent a total annual increase of $34,678, with the largest both in total and percentage going to Jay County High School athletics director/assistant principal Steve Boozier. He received a $4,903 (6.7 percent) raise, bringing his salary to $78,003.
Long noted that a review of salaries indicated that Boozier was on the low end of salaries in comparison with other athletics directors.
Business manager Brad DeRome got a raise of $2,963 to push his total to $96,778, and director of teacher effectiveness Jeremy Gulley and director of testing and assessment Trent Paxson each received raises of $2,551 to bring their salaries to $84,945.
Other raises ranged between $1,200 and $1,867, bringing elementary and middle school principal salaries to between $71,723 and $83,101.
JCHS principal Chad Dodd saw his total increase to $95,767.
The raises were approved on a 5-1 vote with board member Ron Laux dissenting after he questioned the continuation of $1 insurance for some administrators.
Board members Greg Wellman, Mike Shannon, Tammy Bennett, Cory Gundrum, Betts and Laux, absent Beth Krieg, unanimously approved raises for support staff.
Those raises, which total $78,000 annually, include 50 cents per hour for maintenance staff and bus mechanics, 40 cents per hour for health clerks, 30 cents per hour for bus drivers (or $1.75 per day for those on a daily rate), secretaries, crossing guards, the deputy treasurer payroll coordinator, the custodial supervisor, custodians, food service workers, instructional assistants, the Latch Key supervisor, interpreters, out of school suspension supervisors and the licensed athletic trainer, and 10 cents for lifeguards. Other raises included $900 for the head nurse, $500 for information technology support analysts and $400 for home school advisors.
“From talking with some of the teachers, I know that they acknowledge support staff and administrators need to be acknowledged,” said Betts.
After it had discussed at two previous meetings the possibility of raising the pay rate for substitute teachers, the board decided to continue the current rate of $65 per day for the 2016-17 school year.
Board members also decided to authorize preparation of a resolution to be voted on at a future meeting after hearing a presentation on bond refinancing from Mike Therber of Indianapolis firm Therber & Brock.
The refinancing would lower the corporation’s interest rate from 4.1 percent to about 2.25 percent on $17.8 million in outstanding debt from bonds issued in 2001 and 2002 for work at East Jay and West Jay middle schools and Bloomfield Elementary. The refinancing would free up about $1 million that could be used to pay down debt or for other capital improvements at those buildings.
Debbie Hineline of Educational Services Company, Indianapolis, presented a “financial health analysis report” for the school corporation, saying that the school corporation is in solid financial shape at this time but has difficult decisions ahead.
“The corporation is not in danger of being bankrupt by any means,” said Hineline, “but it will be important to maintain your cash balances as much as you possibly can.
“You’ve been fiscally responsible to this point in time, but now it’s time to make those hard choices. You have to decide how you’re going to maintain that cash balance, and it boils down to two things: Get rid of personnel and close buildings.”
Jay Schools has seen its cash balance dwindle from more than $3 million to $1.68 million at the close of 2015 because of deficit spending in four of the last eight years. That included a budget deficit of more than $800,000 in 2013.
Hineline noted that a good rule of thumb is to have a year-end cash balance equal to about three payrolls, which for Jay Schools is about $2.1 million. The corporation projects to have a cash balance of $1.87 million at the close of 2016.
In other business, the board:
•Set textbook rental fees of $118 for kindergarten, $137 for first grade, $120 for second grade, $140 for third grade, $128 for fourth grade and $131 for fifth grade.
•Approved a field trip for eighth graders Nov. 16 through 20 to Washington, D.C.
•Heard from Long that the corporation has contracted with Safe Hiring Solutions to comply with a new state law that requires expanded background checks for employees. Potential employees are responsible for paying for the checks.
•Gave permission to contract with Statewide Credit Association of Indianapolis to collect past due fees totaling about $84,000.
•Got an update from DeRome about capital improvement projects for the next three years. Plans for 2017 include replacing sections of roof at several schools and installing a new sidewalk on the east side of West Jay Middle School. Future projects include replacement of bleachers at the high school and middle schools and paving the main parking lot at JCHS.
•Approved new textbooks for college credit courses in biology and business.