I want to go back to the stipends that are being passed out at Lakewood. In addressing Ms. Wells post from the 18th. All employees do receive a stipend. I was correct on that fact according to Lakewoods central office in Hebron. I hope the following will help clear this up and is a direct copy of what I was sent by Glenna Plaisted incase anyone is confused on the issue. Myself and Ms. Wells are both right. Those employees eligible for stipends did not receive a dollar increase in their step that year. A step represents years of service. So each year, an employee will increase one step (one year of service). Some steps (years) have dollar increases in them, some steps (years) do not. Those employees moving to the next step that had no dollar amount increase were eligible. In short if Ms. Wells or anyone who had a increase in pay from a step then no they didnt get the stipend. If they moved up a step without a pay increase than they did get the stipend. Other employees not progressing upward by steps DO receive the stipends. I do want to insert that Ms. Wells does do a fantastic job with the softball program and she can be found at many after school activities as well as working the concessions at the football games. This was also in the communication from Ms. Plaisted. I understand the line of thinking. The question is why are we doing this at all. The savings involved in giving stipends instead of doing a larger percentage raise increase on the BASE SALARY is huge. The stipends are not permanent and can be negotiated to be paid on a year to year basis without creating the higher base salary which the district is obligated to pay in the future. The percentage increase to the base increases the base permanently and that obligates the district to higher salaries in the future. KEY POINT: Stipends are not permanent and are not commitments on the districts future budget. I say no stipends at all. Keep it back in a rainy day fund or upgrade classrooms with the latest technology available for the students. A quarter of a million dollars would go a long way. Just two years ago my grandson was involved in a summer program for reading or math. Cant remember the exact one but I did ask why just the one and not both and was told that the school district didnt have the money to pay for it. Gee now I know why. The program was for only one week. The last Gallup poll taken on how many people had faith in the public education system, only 29% said they had faith in it. That is down from 33% the year before and from 58% in 1973. The school board is charged with setting the educational goals in their district. Kind of tells us why Lakewood got a C on their last state report card. Now they can blame it on the changes made with the new system but fact is Lakewood is just average.
Posted on: Thu, 20 Mar 2014 14:11:15 +0000
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015