Manchester School Board Approves Stipend for Employees
Posted
Jordan Fouts-
NORTH MANCHESTER – The Manchester school board voted Tuesday to provide a stipend for all employees, to offset higher insurance contributions mandated by the state.
Employee contributions to premiums for the self-insured district will be set at 30 percent across the board next year, which means an increase for individuals and couples but a decrease for families. The increase was required by a new law that says school plans must be comparable to the state employee plan which, as district Business Manager Steve Shumaker noted during the meeting, has been gradually shifting more burden onto employees.
The state plan, which the law says schools must join if they can't get their costs down, now requires employees to contribute 40 percent.
At a cost this year of $1.3 million, health insurance represents about 14 percent of Manchester's $9 million budget, Shumaker noted. He added the higher employee contribution will save the district about $200,000 next year.
The stipend board members approved, 2 percent of an employee's yearly salary, represents a total cost of $43,000. It will be provided to all full- and part-time employees excluding board members, whether they are on the school health plan or not, and distributed on Jan. 3.
“It gives us a chance to reward employees who have not gotten a regular pay increase for three years,” Shumaker said.
Though board member Phil Enyeart moved to approve the stipend, he said he had serious complaints about the last time a stipend was given and vowed to vote against any in the future.
The board also approved three district goals developed over recent months: That at least 90 percent of students achieve proficiency in state standards; that school administrators better communicate with the community and promote student achievement; and that staff better guide students in career choices.
Earlier in the meeting, the board voted to contract next year with Fort Wayne attorney Tuck Hopkins to write school policy independent of NEOLA, the company used by many schools across the Midwest.
Manchester may split a one-time $7,000 fee with four other districts to meet with Hopkins and develop a pared-down 90-page rulebook, then pay a yearly fee of about $300 to keep it updated, Schools Superintendent Bill Reichhart told the board.
In comparison the district pays $2,500 to NEOLA every year, even when, like this year, they change very little in the policy book.
