WCS Pay Increases May Exceed $406K for Year One
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By David [email protected]
During the Warsaw School Board public work session Tuesday, Chief Financial Officer Kevin Scott presented a proposal on the first year of a three-year phase-in of possible pay increases. A final recommendation will be presented to the school board at its June meeting.
Superintendent Dr. Craig Hintz told the board the work in putting the proposal together has been a complex task and a lot of time has been put into it.
Scott said the groups included in the preliminary recommendation are hourly support, certified teaching, related services and administrative staff.
“The numbers you’ll see are year one of a three-year phase in,” Scott said. “Going in, the numbers were large.”
In a telephone interview in March, Scott said teachers last received a raise for the 2008-09 school year. The salary schedule increased 2.38 percent over the previous year. In January 2009, all hourly staff received a 3.4 percent increase.
In January 2011, WCS paid a stipend to all staff members. The $500 net stipend was given to all teachers, administrators, special services staff and 40-hour hourly staff, Scott said. Hourly staff members working less than 40 hours a week received a proportionate amount.
The total of the stipends across the school district was $513,482. Federal stimulus money from the Education Jobs Fund was used to pay for that. He said 901 employees received stipends.
Scott presented several tables of numbers to the board Tuesday.
The first chart compared Warsaw’s beginning hourly base wage to those of area schools (Wawasee, Whitko, Tippecanoe Valley) and to averages of starting wages of regional corporations of comparative size.
For example, a Warsaw bus driver starting wage is $14, while the average of area schools is $13.43 and $15.07 at comparative regional schools.
A table of recommendations for hourly staff for year one of the increases then was presented. The table compared the administration’s recommendation of each category of hourly staff to the dollar amount it would require to match up Warsaw’s pay to the regional amount.
Hourly staff categories, recommended increases for year one and number of employees included: administrative support, $25,037.65, for 49 employees; classroom assistants, $68,770.70, for 193 employees; specialized assistants, $3,495.96, for 10 employees; health services, $14,586.35, for 48 employees; food service, $80,682, for 93 employees; custodial, $33,387.36, for 70 employees; maintenance, $19,552, for 10 employees; transportation, $26,205.09, for 68 employees; technology, $25,799.80, for 22 employees; and all other positions, $20,717.59, for 75 employees.
The total for hourly staff for year one is $318,234.50.
If WCS wanted to match the regional rate, Warsaw would have to increase that amount to $809,348.05, not including the Social Security and retirement match.
For certified teaching staff, the master contract is in effect until June 30, 2013. The two-year contract was signed in June 2011. The state changed the law and said school corporations couldn’t approve any new teacher contract beyond June 2013, Scott said. Once the master contract expires, the new laws must be met. Because of those changes, no numbers on certified teaching staff were presented.
Under the related services category, recommended increase for year one included: occupational therapists, $2,403; physical therapists, $1,245; school psychologists, $3,730; mental health therapists, $8,034.80; nurses, $7,776.60; and all other positions, $3,400.40. The number of employees may vary.
Total for related services employees for year one is $26,589.80. That is about $11,000 more than the regional figure.
The last category is administrators. Total preliminary proposed adjustment for all administrators for year one is $61,841.50. If WCS wanted to match the regional figure, it would have to increase that number to $118,138.52.
For year one, the total cost of the salary and wage recommendation is $406,665.81. It does not include certified teaching staff. That total may change slightly by the June meeting based on school board members input and feedback. To match the regional figure, Scott said, would require $943,127.81.
The estimated three-year cost of the recommended salary and wage increases would total $1,219,997.42. If WCS tried to match the regional figure, it would be $2,829,383.42.
“Significant numbers,” Scott said.
He said the next steps were to work on the revenue projection for budget year 2013 and finalize staffing levels for 2012-13. Hintz will provide recommendations to the school board in June.
Scott said WCS may be able to pay for the approximate $406,000 in increases for year one through different means. If WCS has 76 new students next school year, that would cover the cost as Warsaw gets more than $5,300 per student from the state. The Indiana legislature did double the funding for full-day kindergarten, and staffing levels could affect how much money is in the general fund.
Board President Jennifer Tandy asked, “In all the studies that you’ve done, how do you know we’re being the most efficient?”
Scott said they are constantly looking at ways to improve and be more efficient. Through attrition, he said they are looking at ways to shrink staff.
He said he felt good about the preliminary proposal.
“I think this is the next logical step. The economy is staring to perk up and we’ve got a lot going on (at Warsaw Schools),” he said.[[In-content Ad]]
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During the Warsaw School Board public work session Tuesday, Chief Financial Officer Kevin Scott presented a proposal on the first year of a three-year phase-in of possible pay increases. A final recommendation will be presented to the school board at its June meeting.
Superintendent Dr. Craig Hintz told the board the work in putting the proposal together has been a complex task and a lot of time has been put into it.
Scott said the groups included in the preliminary recommendation are hourly support, certified teaching, related services and administrative staff.
“The numbers you’ll see are year one of a three-year phase in,” Scott said. “Going in, the numbers were large.”
In a telephone interview in March, Scott said teachers last received a raise for the 2008-09 school year. The salary schedule increased 2.38 percent over the previous year. In January 2009, all hourly staff received a 3.4 percent increase.
In January 2011, WCS paid a stipend to all staff members. The $500 net stipend was given to all teachers, administrators, special services staff and 40-hour hourly staff, Scott said. Hourly staff members working less than 40 hours a week received a proportionate amount.
The total of the stipends across the school district was $513,482. Federal stimulus money from the Education Jobs Fund was used to pay for that. He said 901 employees received stipends.
Scott presented several tables of numbers to the board Tuesday.
The first chart compared Warsaw’s beginning hourly base wage to those of area schools (Wawasee, Whitko, Tippecanoe Valley) and to averages of starting wages of regional corporations of comparative size.
For example, a Warsaw bus driver starting wage is $14, while the average of area schools is $13.43 and $15.07 at comparative regional schools.
A table of recommendations for hourly staff for year one of the increases then was presented. The table compared the administration’s recommendation of each category of hourly staff to the dollar amount it would require to match up Warsaw’s pay to the regional amount.
Hourly staff categories, recommended increases for year one and number of employees included: administrative support, $25,037.65, for 49 employees; classroom assistants, $68,770.70, for 193 employees; specialized assistants, $3,495.96, for 10 employees; health services, $14,586.35, for 48 employees; food service, $80,682, for 93 employees; custodial, $33,387.36, for 70 employees; maintenance, $19,552, for 10 employees; transportation, $26,205.09, for 68 employees; technology, $25,799.80, for 22 employees; and all other positions, $20,717.59, for 75 employees.
The total for hourly staff for year one is $318,234.50.
If WCS wanted to match the regional rate, Warsaw would have to increase that amount to $809,348.05, not including the Social Security and retirement match.
For certified teaching staff, the master contract is in effect until June 30, 2013. The two-year contract was signed in June 2011. The state changed the law and said school corporations couldn’t approve any new teacher contract beyond June 2013, Scott said. Once the master contract expires, the new laws must be met. Because of those changes, no numbers on certified teaching staff were presented.
Under the related services category, recommended increase for year one included: occupational therapists, $2,403; physical therapists, $1,245; school psychologists, $3,730; mental health therapists, $8,034.80; nurses, $7,776.60; and all other positions, $3,400.40. The number of employees may vary.
Total for related services employees for year one is $26,589.80. That is about $11,000 more than the regional figure.
The last category is administrators. Total preliminary proposed adjustment for all administrators for year one is $61,841.50. If WCS wanted to match the regional figure, it would have to increase that number to $118,138.52.
For year one, the total cost of the salary and wage recommendation is $406,665.81. It does not include certified teaching staff. That total may change slightly by the June meeting based on school board members input and feedback. To match the regional figure, Scott said, would require $943,127.81.
The estimated three-year cost of the recommended salary and wage increases would total $1,219,997.42. If WCS tried to match the regional figure, it would be $2,829,383.42.
“Significant numbers,” Scott said.
He said the next steps were to work on the revenue projection for budget year 2013 and finalize staffing levels for 2012-13. Hintz will provide recommendations to the school board in June.
Scott said WCS may be able to pay for the approximate $406,000 in increases for year one through different means. If WCS has 76 new students next school year, that would cover the cost as Warsaw gets more than $5,300 per student from the state. The Indiana legislature did double the funding for full-day kindergarten, and staffing levels could affect how much money is in the general fund.
Board President Jennifer Tandy asked, “In all the studies that you’ve done, how do you know we’re being the most efficient?”
Scott said they are constantly looking at ways to improve and be more efficient. Through attrition, he said they are looking at ways to shrink staff.
He said he felt good about the preliminary proposal.
“I think this is the next logical step. The economy is staring to perk up and we’ve got a lot going on (at Warsaw Schools),” he said.[[In-content Ad]]
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