Public Comments Taken for Hintz' WCS Contract
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By David [email protected]
Only a handful of people spoke at the meeting, and all were positive toward Hintz. The board will vote on Hintz’s contract at its reorganizational meeting Jan. 6 at 5 p.m. at the central office.
Effective dates for Hintz’s proposed contract are Jan. 1, 2014, through June 30, 2015.
The total monetary value of his base salary and benefits contract is $164,218.52. It includes an annual base salary of $144,700; an annual teacher retirement fund contribution of $4,341; annual 403(b) Plan contribution of $12,000; a waiver of health insurance stipend of $2,000; an annual long-term insurance disability premium contribution of $96; an annual term life insurance premimum contribution (for a $150,000 death benefit) of $197.52; and an annual technology cellular telephone allowance of $884.
Hintz has declined benefits for an annual 401(a) Plan, VEBA Plan, group health insurance premium or group dental insurance premium contributions. The waiver of health insurance stipend will allow Hintz to get health insurance elsewhere.
Attorney Timothy S. Shelly, of Warrick & Boyn LLP, Elkhart, explained why a public hearing on Hintz’s contract had to be held and the procedure for approving it.
Shelly said he represents school boards on a regular basis. One of the newer areas his law firm is helping school corporations with is the process relating to the approval of the superintendent’s contract. It has several components to it, with Monday’s public hearing being one of those.
Prior to the public hearing, Shelly said the school corporation was required to publish a notice about the public hearing. The notice, which was published in the Times-Union Dec. 6, included a summary of the benefits in the superintendent’s contract.
After Monday’s hearing and the public has an opportunity to talk, Shelly said the contract can’t become effective for at least seven days. The contract can only be modified down and it has to be published on the school corporation’s website.
Shelly said, “My experience teaches me that Dr. Hintz’s contract is very competitive with schools of Warsaw’s size across the state,” schools in the Northern Lakes Conference and Fort Wayne schools. It’s also on par with contracts for superintendents with Hintz’s experience, he noted.
“Tonight, all you are going to be doing is opening the floor ... to the public on their thoughts on the proposed summary,” Shelly said. After that, at the Jan. 6 meeting, the board will vote on the contract.
Brad Bishop, OrthoWorx executive director, expressed OrthoWorx’s support for Hintz’s proposed contract.
When OrthoWorx was formed in 2009, Bishop said the school corporation had seen a series of turnovers that had caused students and their families to go to other school districts. At the time of OrthoWorx’s formation, the Cambridge Study also was done which stated that local education was something OrthoWorx should pay attention to.
By 2011, he said, improvements were so dramatic that WCS was named OrthoWorx’s organizational partner of the year. Since then, continued improvements were made, all of WCS’s schools received “A’s” across the board by the state, Hintz was named Superintendent of the Year and WCS continues expanding its curriculum.
Bishop said in terms of things that can be controlled, Hintz has done an outstanding job in leading WCS.
John Elliott spoke about what impressed him most about Hintz was that he listened, while Warsaw Area Career Center Principal Ronna Kawsky and retired teacher Richard Rooker spoke about Hintz’s leadership. Ot Schroeder talked about Hintz’s support of Kosciusko County Educational Development, which has increased the graduation rate from 74 percent to the high-80s.
Baker Youth Club Director Tracy Furnivall said the BYC has a good relationship with WCS because of Hintz. Later in the meeting, former WCS Superintendent Ralph Bailey and former school board member Kent Adams also applauded Hintz and his leadership.
The hearing on Hintz’s contract ended with a statement from the superintendent. He said, “I certainly appreciate all the very fine comments. I’m just so grateful to be here, to have the opportunity to serve in the role that I’m in. I’ve had good fortune in my career to have several stops along the way, those different chapters of your life, professoionally, and I can honestly say that this has been my best stop in my career.
“I certainly applaud the support of the community, the interest the community has in our school corporation, and I’m very, very proud of our mission, of our strategic plan. I do believe that there is a collective committment to our mission and to moving forward together in making decisions that we believe are in the best interests of the children, 7200 of them that we are so privileged to serve day in and day out,” he continued.
“So I wish to really express my appreciation to the board for the new contract that has been introduced tonight and pledge my ongoing work and support of where we’re going as a school corporation. Thank you very much,” Hintz concluded.[[In-content Ad]]
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Only a handful of people spoke at the meeting, and all were positive toward Hintz. The board will vote on Hintz’s contract at its reorganizational meeting Jan. 6 at 5 p.m. at the central office.
Effective dates for Hintz’s proposed contract are Jan. 1, 2014, through June 30, 2015.
The total monetary value of his base salary and benefits contract is $164,218.52. It includes an annual base salary of $144,700; an annual teacher retirement fund contribution of $4,341; annual 403(b) Plan contribution of $12,000; a waiver of health insurance stipend of $2,000; an annual long-term insurance disability premium contribution of $96; an annual term life insurance premimum contribution (for a $150,000 death benefit) of $197.52; and an annual technology cellular telephone allowance of $884.
Hintz has declined benefits for an annual 401(a) Plan, VEBA Plan, group health insurance premium or group dental insurance premium contributions. The waiver of health insurance stipend will allow Hintz to get health insurance elsewhere.
Attorney Timothy S. Shelly, of Warrick & Boyn LLP, Elkhart, explained why a public hearing on Hintz’s contract had to be held and the procedure for approving it.
Shelly said he represents school boards on a regular basis. One of the newer areas his law firm is helping school corporations with is the process relating to the approval of the superintendent’s contract. It has several components to it, with Monday’s public hearing being one of those.
Prior to the public hearing, Shelly said the school corporation was required to publish a notice about the public hearing. The notice, which was published in the Times-Union Dec. 6, included a summary of the benefits in the superintendent’s contract.
After Monday’s hearing and the public has an opportunity to talk, Shelly said the contract can’t become effective for at least seven days. The contract can only be modified down and it has to be published on the school corporation’s website.
Shelly said, “My experience teaches me that Dr. Hintz’s contract is very competitive with schools of Warsaw’s size across the state,” schools in the Northern Lakes Conference and Fort Wayne schools. It’s also on par with contracts for superintendents with Hintz’s experience, he noted.
“Tonight, all you are going to be doing is opening the floor ... to the public on their thoughts on the proposed summary,” Shelly said. After that, at the Jan. 6 meeting, the board will vote on the contract.
Brad Bishop, OrthoWorx executive director, expressed OrthoWorx’s support for Hintz’s proposed contract.
When OrthoWorx was formed in 2009, Bishop said the school corporation had seen a series of turnovers that had caused students and their families to go to other school districts. At the time of OrthoWorx’s formation, the Cambridge Study also was done which stated that local education was something OrthoWorx should pay attention to.
By 2011, he said, improvements were so dramatic that WCS was named OrthoWorx’s organizational partner of the year. Since then, continued improvements were made, all of WCS’s schools received “A’s” across the board by the state, Hintz was named Superintendent of the Year and WCS continues expanding its curriculum.
Bishop said in terms of things that can be controlled, Hintz has done an outstanding job in leading WCS.
John Elliott spoke about what impressed him most about Hintz was that he listened, while Warsaw Area Career Center Principal Ronna Kawsky and retired teacher Richard Rooker spoke about Hintz’s leadership. Ot Schroeder talked about Hintz’s support of Kosciusko County Educational Development, which has increased the graduation rate from 74 percent to the high-80s.
Baker Youth Club Director Tracy Furnivall said the BYC has a good relationship with WCS because of Hintz. Later in the meeting, former WCS Superintendent Ralph Bailey and former school board member Kent Adams also applauded Hintz and his leadership.
The hearing on Hintz’s contract ended with a statement from the superintendent. He said, “I certainly appreciate all the very fine comments. I’m just so grateful to be here, to have the opportunity to serve in the role that I’m in. I’ve had good fortune in my career to have several stops along the way, those different chapters of your life, professoionally, and I can honestly say that this has been my best stop in my career.
“I certainly applaud the support of the community, the interest the community has in our school corporation, and I’m very, very proud of our mission, of our strategic plan. I do believe that there is a collective committment to our mission and to moving forward together in making decisions that we believe are in the best interests of the children, 7200 of them that we are so privileged to serve day in and day out,” he continued.
“So I wish to really express my appreciation to the board for the new contract that has been introduced tonight and pledge my ongoing work and support of where we’re going as a school corporation. Thank you very much,” Hintz concluded.[[In-content Ad]]
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