DECATUR - Decatur school board members, at their March 25 meeting, voted to approve a policy that will set clear guidelines for administrators’ salaries.
In February, the board voted to offer high school principal Deborah Coffer and elementary school principal Jeff Gravette a contract for the upcoming school year but did not agree on a salary.
In the past, administrators’ salaries were negotiated annually.
After a lengthy study session on March 11, the board, at its March 25 meeting, developed a formula which is based on the teacher salary scale to calculate administrator salaries. The formula will take into account the additional number of days that principals work, and the board will be able to decide on an index number to multiply by the base salary to negotiate the administrator’s salary up or down. In addition, principals will be given a stipend of $2,500 per year for a specialist degree and $3,500 per year for a doctorate degree.
The new policy will also apply to federal programs coordinator Mitch Wilber. It will not significantly change Coffer, Gravette or Wilber’s salary. Coffer will make $65,303 this year for a 240 day contract. Next year, her salary will be $68,517 for a contract of the same length. The board multiplied her base salary by an index of 1.3 to arrive at the number.
Gravette will make $60,000 for a 220 day contract this year. Next year, his salary will be $60,047 for a 205 day contract, with an index of 1.35.
Wilber will make $77,800 this year. Next year, his salary will be $78,581, with an index of 1.29.
Because there was no policy on administrative salaries, it was difficult to navigate through the negotiation process, superintendent Larry Ben said. Another advantage is that administrators will receive automatic step raises each year, the same as teachers, according to Ben.
“This way there is a written policy from year to year and we don’t have to negotiate salaries each year, we can just follow the schedule,” he said.
News, Pages 5 on 04/03/2013