District Administrators Agree to Roll Back Salaries

Any financial gains made by Saline Area Schools administrators since 2008-09 have been wiped away.

To help the school district deal with its structural deficit, the Saline Area Schools Administrators’ Association, representing 13 school supervisors, agreed to roll back salaries to 2008-09 levels. The association also agreed to contribute 10 percent of the cost of district-provided medical, prescription, dental and vision coverage.

The Saline Area Schools Managers’ Association, which represents six workers who manage non-educational staff, also agreed to roll back salaries to 2008-09 levels.

As well, Superintendent Scot Graden took a $12,731 pay cut and health care concessions, and Assistant Superintendent Steve Laatsch accepted an $11,400 pay cut.

Harvest Elementary Principal Betty Rosen-Leacher and Heritage Elementary Principal Les Sharon spoke on behalf of the SASAA to the Saline Area Schools Board of Education at Tuesday’s meeting.

“We had several conversations with our members and we were pleased to be able to come forward tonight,” said Rosen-Leacher, who said administrators unanimously agreed to the concessions. “Given the situation with school revenue, it was time to take the necessary steps.”

Sharon said that most principals in the district have been employed in other districts.

“We know this is a great place to be. Frankly, compared with our colleagues in other similarly-funded districts, we are still very-well compensated,” Sharon said.

Graden’s contract was extended through June 30, 2016. The board conducted its annual evaluation of the superintendent at its annual retreat Aug. 16.

The board released a prepared statement at Tuesday’s meeting, saying the Saline Area Schools District has continued to make progress over the past year under Graden’s leadership, calling the strong performance a testament to Graden’s dedication to higher achievement for “all students at every level,” and to his willingness to address tough financial issues. The board graded him at 3.2 on a 4-point scale.

“Mr. Graden has done an excellent job of moving Saline Area Schools forward during a very tumultuous time,” said board President Chuck Lesch. “As a board and a community, we are excited about the future under his leadership.”

Lesch also credited Graden for leading the way in sharing the sacrifice, noting that the superintendent had taken a 7.5 percent salary reduction since 2007-08.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the board went into executive session to discuss contracts.

Do the concessions indicate what the district will seek from the Saline Education Association when negotiations begin?

.”I don’t know about that, but I think it is fair to say that it does align with where our revenues are at (2008-09 levels). We need to align our costs to where they were in 2008-09 for any group or individual within the organization,” said Graden, who is the district’s point person in negotiations. “I think that’s the benchmark we need to be looking at—2008-09, at least as a starting point.”

SEA President Juan Lauchu said teachers are in the dark when it comes to negotiations.

“I don’t know what the district wants. I don’t know what has happened to collaborative bargaining, other than that is not happening. We came in with an offer of $850,000 in health insurance, and a formula that would bring stability to the district. That was our starting point,” said Lauchu. “We were flat out declined. There has been no talk. There has been no communication about future bargaining. I am at a loss. We want to help the district. We’re trying to do our part to hear the district.”

Lauchu said the SEA hasn’t hasn’t been given a sense of what the district wants.

“It would be nice to have a number. We’re ready to bargain. We want to help the district,” Lauchu said.

In June, the board of education approved a $51.5 million budget that included 18 teacher layoffs and drawing $1.3 million from a fund balance which dropped below five percent of spending. The SEA gave up approximately $1.5 million on concessions to help the board make that budget.