GENTRY — Though both the certified and classified staff of the Gentry Public School District had requested raises for the coming year, teachers and staff will receive a $1,000 bonus instead.

The district’s personnel policy committee request for certified staff was for a $1,000 across-the board pay raise. The classified personnel policy committee requested that classified staff receive their next salary stepwith a 3 percent increase to the base.

Gentry School District superintendent Randy Barrett estimated the cost to give the raises would be approximately $338,000 per year. He also reviewed with board members future expected income for the district and budgeted expenditures.

“If the funds were there, I would support their recommendations,” Barrett said. “At this point in time, I don’t see the revenue to do it,” he said, explaining that the district needed a source ofnew revenue to be able to afford the pay raises.

Barrett said giving raises would be a recurring expense to the district rather than a one-time expenditure. Because the district is not currently growing in student numbers and incoming revenue is not expected to rise much in the next year, Barrett recommended a $1,000 across-the-board bonus to be paid in June rather than an increase to base pay. The step increases in current policy would continue to be in place, along with the addition of a 21st step.

The one-time bonus, Barrett said, would cost the district approximately $260,000 and could be paid from surplus funds the district has in the current year - a surplus he did not project the district to have next year because of higher bond payments.

The board went into executive session at the close of the meeting to determine whether Barrett should also receive the bonus. When they returned, they chose to give Barrett the bonus as well as his step increase in the salary schedule.

News, Pages 5 on 04/18/2012