ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, February 22, 1996 TAG: 9602220012
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: PULASKI
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
Rhea Saltz asked his fellow Pulaski County School Board members Tuesday night whether any of them seriously believed they would get enough money in the 1996-97 school budget to give teachers a 5 percent raise.
Nobody said anything.
So Saltz came up with another idea: Forget raises, but reinstitute the salary step increases, where teachers are paid in increments according to the number of years they've worked. The schools had used that plan years ago, but the previous School Board discontinued it.
Saltz also suggested adding cost-of-living increases to the "steps" at the lower end of the pay scale. "I don't want anybody to get nothing," he said.
The result would be an average salary increase of $600 per year, about a 2.2 percent raise. "This way, we have not given a salary increase. We are just putting people on the scale," Saltz said.
The proposal came at one of a series of School Board budget workshops to be held before school officials sit down with the county Board of Supervisors March 11 to discuss budgeting.
Personnel costs amount to about 84 percent of the county's school budget.
County teachers near the top of the scale are doing pretty well in comparison with teacher salaries in the region, Superintendent Bill Asbury said. But those from the middle on down are lagging. School officials are seeking ways to equalize salaries a bit more at the lower and middle parts.
"You know, somewhere along the line, you're going to have to be unfair to somebody to get the scale straightened out," Saltz said.
The amount teachers draw in retirement is based on their highest three-year salary average, which is usually their last three years of teaching. Asbury said the administration usually has no way of knowing when a teacher is planning to retire, and so could not boost a salary in the final years to help with retirement.
School Board member Beth Nelson said such a boost would be a bad idea anyway, from an ethical perspective. "I know your heart's in the right place, but this is not right," she said.
The School Board will need more teachers in the lower grades where enrollment is rising slightly, if it plans to continue its effort to lower pupil-teacher ratios at those levels. That will mean more elementary classes, and another problem will be finding space for them in the existing buildings.
Saltz suggested increasing the number of classes taught by department heads from two to three. Nelson wants the board to take a hard look at the supplements going to teachers who take on extra responsibilities such as coaching. Sports are fine, she said, but instruction should be the main goal.
Jeff Bain wants to see if more teachers can be added to Pulaski County High School's fine arts program.
Asbury said the band director is seeking a full-time assistant at the high school, which is not out of line considering that the football program has nine of them and similar numbers of students are involved in football and band.
The high school may need some funding help for athletics, too, Asbury said. Generally, football and basketball programs make enough money from ticket sales to offset losses in other sports, but football gate receipts were down about $20,000 over last year because of rain on three game nights.
LENGTH: Medium: 63 linesby CNB