Teacher pay raise receives initial approval

— Teachers and staff at Gentry Schools could get a pay raise next year if a proposed salary increase is approved by the school board next month.

Passing on a first reading before the school board Monday night was a recommendation of Gentry School District superintendent Dr. Randy Barrett to give teachers a $500 experience step for certified teachers and a $1,500 across-the-board pay raise.

The recommendation also included for principals and administrators (excluding Barrett) a $500 step raise for the 2010 school year because the step given to teachers in the current year was not given to administrators, a $500 step for the 2011 school year and a $1,500 across-the-board raise in the 2011 school year.

Classified personnel would receive experience steps for school years 2010 and 2011.

Barrett estimated the cost of the salary increases at $380,150 per year. He projected the availability of $362,397 for the raises but said the district would be able to adjust and cover the balance needed to fund the raises.

The district’s Personnel Policy Committee recommended a $2,500 acrossthe-board raise for teachers, but the board had already passed Barrett’s proposal on its first reading and the PPC proposal died for lack of a motion from the board.

Barrett presented the board with a detailed accounting of the district’sfinances before making the recommendation on Monday.

Barrett told board members the district was still in good financial condition at the end of period nine of the 2010 school year with an operatingfund ending balance of $2,662,483. But he pointed out that the debt restructuring plan the board put in place would continue to require the district to keep a close watch on expenditures over the next several years.

News, Pages 1 on 04/21/2010