Cliff Buchan
News EditorISD 831ís top-ranking five administrators now have new contracts for the 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 school years.
The school board at its regular meeting Thursday, Sept. 2 voted 6-0 with one member absent to approve the contract for the five directors. The settlement will provide total salary and benefit increases of 6.98 percent over both years.
The salary improvement is 3.23 percent in 2003-2004 and 3.09 percent in 2004-2005. District funding for employee insurance is an improvement of .66 percent in year one, but remains flat in the second year of the contract.
The new contracts impact the following:
ïLarry Martini, director of business affairs.
ïDonley Johnson, director of administration and human resources.
ïLinda Madsen, director of teaching and learning.
ïBeth Sullivan, director of special education.
ïDan Poepard, director of community service (community education program).
For district negotiators, the settlement follows a two-year contract approval for principals reached in August. Still being bargained are contracts for the districtís supervisory employees.
The group is classified as the Association of School District Administrators for collective bargaining purposes.
District cost
The settlement last week came with school board approval of the mandated structural balance resolution. The resolution states that the contract terms will not adversely affect the districtís budget during the collective bargaining period.
The two-year settlement for the five employees carries total cost in excess of $1 million.
According to the structural balance resolution documentation, the settlement cost for salary and benefits is $552,741 in the first year and $569,720 in the second year.
Wages, benefits
Four of the five directors will earn identical compensation over the two years of the contract.
Martini, Johnson, Madsen and Sullivan will see a base salary increase from $104,658 in 2002-2003 to $108,127 in 2003-2004. Salary pay is retroactive to the start of the past school year.
In the second year of the contract, the four directors will see a base salary hike to $111,283.
Poepardís 2002-2003 salary of $91,368 increases to $94,397 in 2003-2004 and to $97,279 in 2004-2005.
For Madsen, the new contract means an official job title change to director status. She was initially hired to the position as a facilitator.
Based on a comparable worth analysis in late 2002, the school board increased Madsenís pay by $8,353.75 reflecting the period of Dec. 31, 2002 through June 30, 2003.
The analysis by the districtís consultant for comparable worth recommended the position be shifted to director status.
Other benefits
The settlement also includes a broad range of district fringe benefits and pay-for-performance compensation.
The five employees were eligible for a maximum pay-for-performance award of $3500 in the first year and can collect a maximum of $3800 in the second year of the deal.
The bonus pay is awarded at the discretion of the superintendent and is determined on a formula based on predetermined goals and job performance with the pay determination not subject to a grievance by the employee.
The employees are also eligible for medical, dental and health insurance benefits with the full premium paid by the district, plus a health care reimbursement plan district payment of $1020 a year that is credited to the employeeís health care account.
Directors with less than 10 years of service earn 20 days of paid vacation a year while employees over 10 years of service receive 25 days of paid vacation time. A maximum of 40 days of paid vacation may be carried over.
Directors also receive 12 paid holidays during the contract year.
Paid sick leave days total 16 a year for directors with 10 years or less of service and 20 days for directors with 11 years of service. Directors may also accumulate 329 days of sick leave and can build a maximum of 105 days for severance pay contribution.
Directors hired prior to 1999 will be eligible to participate in an unused sick leave account plan at retirement or resignation after reaching age 55 and completing at least 15 years of service to the district. Unused sick leave days will be placed into an individual leave account and used for insurance premiums until the employeeís sick leave account is depleted.
The directors are also eligible to participate in a district 403B savings plan. The district has agreed to pay $2000 a year in matching funds to the savings plan as of July 1, 2000 with a lifetime maximum contribution of $40,000.
The employees are also compensated $74 a month for miscellaneous business expenses and are paid mileage reimbursement under current school board policy for travel outside the district with any in-district travel expense requiring pre-approval by the superintendent.
Approval came with votes from President Bill Bresin and members Karen Morehead, Dean Bahr, Joe Grafft, Jody Krebs and Rob Rapheal. Member Keith Dunham was absent last Thursday.
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