School administration salaries next on the table
School administration salaries next on the table
By JILL DENNING GACKLE
Pay increases can be a sticky issue.
That's what the Garrison School Board has found year after year. There's always a lot of discussion about teacher salaries, then some give-and-take on administrator salaries and then support staff and coaches contracts are issued.
This year teachers are set to receive a 6 percent increase this year and an 8 percent increase next year – once contracts are issued – and now the administration is asking for its share.
Superintendent Steve Brannan asked for a 7 percent annual increase for administration and a two-year contract, although he said the administration team is leaving it in the hands of the board.
Last year Business Manager Virginia Beggs received a 6 percent increase; Brannan and the principals received a 5 percent increase.
Beggs is at $49,107 annually; Elementary Principal Shelly Fuller makes $50,604 and High School Principal Darwin Routledge was hired at $53,000 a year. Brannan is making $80,896 this year. Administrators receive 100 percent funding of a family health insurance plan and retirement funding.
No decisions were made at the meeting Monday evening. The next meeting of the board is Monday, May 17 at 8 p.m.
In other business, the board:
• Learned that the hearing on the suit filed by teachers will be 3 p.m. May 12 at the Burleigh County Courthouse in Bismarck. The board went into a brief executive session to discuss the upcoming hearing in private. Teachers are suing the district to stop the issuing of contracts, which they believe violates contract language that the teachers' union did not approve. The negotiations committee will meet at 7 a.m. May 13 at Four Seasons Restaurant to consider the next step.
• Learned that both elementary and secondary schools made Adequate Yearly Progress, a minimum standard set by the No Child Left Behind program. Board members, guests and administrators toasted the accomplishment with non-alcoholic champagne.
