Highland school board questions salaries by James Jacenich • Staff writer
MONTEREY - Highland County Public Schools superintendent Gary Blair has a budget that exceeds what state and local governments are required to give. The school board is reluctant to support it.
 | | Highland County Public Schools superintendent began negotiations with the school board on next year's budget Monday. He is asking for 1,000 more than last year for personnel raises, an additional teacher and an instructional assistant. At the board's request, he is developing a less costly alternative for presentation at Monday's second school board budget work session. (Recorder photo by James Jacenich) |
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Blair proposes to request $181,704 more than last year for another teacher, instructional aid, pay raises and salary increases for support personnel. But he is revising his figures downward, at the board's request.
There are three school budget proposals on the table in Richmond. The governor's would give Highland County $1,982,599 for education - $20,648 more than last year.
The county would be required to match that amount with $1,786,078. Blair wants to go beyond the minimum required. He's asking the county to contribute $1,976,119 - about $180,000 more than the local minimum contribution.
All numbers are approximations, he stressed. The state budget isn't approved yet, insurance negotiations are not complete, and federal funding is expected to drop by about $25,000.
The school board is reluctant to endorse Blair's budget proposal.
"Somewhere it has got to stop," said member Vickie King.
"It won't happen," declared chair Bobbie Hefner.
They were referring to setting payscales with step increases for employees other than teachers.
Blair's initial proposal for support personnel had some receiving as much as a 15 percent raise next year. Support personnel, including teaching assistants, custodians, secretaries, cafeteria workers and bus drivers, don't have a consistent payscale, he said. A consistent pay policy for support personnel was requested by the Highland County Education Association this year.
Teacher compensation was discussed at length. Blair explained teachers have come to expect step increases based on experience. It's what professionals deserve, said Blair. "The step is part of the history, tradition and culture of teaching," said Blair. "I can't think of two places in Virginia that don't have steps."
"I wouldn't want to give up steps for teachers," said Hefner, saying that adding steps to salaries for support personnel is something else entirely.
Teacher pay has many variables - retirement benefits, health insurance, experience, additional credentials (master's degree or national board certification) and stipends for additional duties assigned (coach, lead teacher).
The variables are what attract the best teachers, said Blair. Stipends, steps, salary and benefits are all incentives most teachers look at before considering employment, even in Highland County. He said it is difficult to recruit the best teachers to Highland County when the county is in the bottom quarter for pay in the state.
Board members said the perception in Highland is people should expect to earn less than elsewhere, and quality of life and job conditions must be factored in as part of the benefits of working and living here.
Teachers will most likely get a raise this year, but support personnel may not get as much as they would like or deserve. "We would like to increase the salaries of everybody," said King. "But where is the money going to come from?"
King said employees other than teachers should be paid a fixed salary whether they have experience or not; for example, a teaching assistant with 20 years' experience should get no more than a teaching assistant with one year's experience. It's what many of her constituents get in their jobs, and they expect school employees to get no more and no less, she said.
"A lot of people do not have insurance," Hefner added, saying the county pays for health insurance for teachers, and that just doesn't seem fair.
Other localities can pay more than Highland and the best teachers go where the money is, administrators agreed.
Board member Kim Bird said different occupations receive different compensation, and the law of supply and demand is at work in teaching just as it is in other occupations.
Board members and Blair agreed the cost of education keeps rising and students deserve the best education Highland's money can buy.
"You can't expect to do more with less," said King.
"Revenues are down and expenditures are up," Blair said. "The only option left is to do more with less."
Blair said Highland schools have an advantage other schools don't - a low teacher to student ratio. Some classes have about 18 students, he said. Other schools in the state often have closer to 24 students per classroom, he said.
Virginia mandates that vocational classes are not to have more than 12 students per teacher for safety reasons. English classes can have no more than 24 students. Statewide, kindergarten through third grade should have no more than 20 students to a teacher. Highland, though, is below most state averages.
Smaller classrooms allow for closer interaction between teachers and students, Blair said. Students don't tend to be overlooked in Highland schools. That isn't always the case in larger school systems, he added.
"There is a culture of caring here," said Blair.
Blair will check on the amount of money that will be spent on salaries next year, review support personnel pay to see what they were paid in the past, and make sure they are paid correctly. He said he will consider not asking for the additional positions. "All I'm asking is that the budget be equitable, fair and effective for the children," said Blair.
"Once we lock this in, we need to meet with the supervisors to see what they have to say," said Hefner.
No date for a meeting with supervisors was set. The next school board budget work session is 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 26 in the Highland High School library.
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