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Bylaws, Policies & Administrative Guidelines |
School Administration
Duties And Responsibilities Of Principals (11/23/06) - At the Board meeting on June 5, 1990 policy was approved pertaining to the "duties and responsibilities" of the Elementary and the Jr.-Sr. High School principals. There was separate policy for each, however, some of the items were identical and there was much similarity between the two policies. On February 7, 2006 the Board adopted by a 3 to 2 (Phillips and Zartman) vote a resolution to approve Policies and Bylaws of the Caston School Board as prepared by NEOLA, Inc. Although this includes Policy 1230, "Responsibilities Of The Superintendent," it does not include a similar policy for the principal. The 1990 policy, "Duties and Responsibilities of the Junior-Senior High School Principal" reads: 1. The principal shall be responsible
to the superintendent for all organization, administration, and supervision
within the building. School Suspensions At Caston And Indiana Schools (8/27/07) - The Indianapolis Star yesterday published the article "1,700 Suspensions Each School Day" referring to the entire state. A database is also provided that gives the number of suspensions and the reason for each for every Indiana school (click here for database). The links below will take you directly to the data for the indicated schools. Students Can Live In One District And Attend School In Another District Tuition-Free...Maybe (retitled, Ind'pls Star, 8/30/08) - "Indiana's public schools will soon have to stop charging tuition to students who attend their schools but live in other districts. That will mean a nearly free pricetag that sounds good to parents...With the state paying all operating costs, tuition will largely be a thing of the past after this semester...Schools develop reputations for high school sports, academics and other extracurricular activities. That reputation could draw students...'What will happen is only students with families that can provide transportation -- which is huge -- will be even able to take advantage of that'...About 2,700 students statewide attend schools on tuition transfers..." (more) Caston Makes Available Audio Recording Of "School Report" (11/2/08) - From the Caston website you can now access the interview that Superintendent Foster conducted recently with WROI 92.1, Rochester as part of their "School Report" series. Click here to go directly to the link (and then click on the "headset" icon).
Caston Estimates Between $1.1 Million and $1.2 Million Are At Stake In
Litigation (retitled, Lafayette Journal Courier, 11/10/09) The trust, which provided health insurance to about 30 school districts, was taken over by its national parent organization earlier this year amid financial troubles. Delphi Superintendent Ralph Walker said his district had an estimated $500,000 in reserves with the insurance trust. That money would have been used to offset premiums for the corporation and the approximately 100 employees who were covered by the health insurance plan. The school district in Carroll County and at least one other in the state -- Caston School Corp. in Fulton County -- have already voted to pursue a potential lawsuit in hopes of reclaiming the reserve money. Walker expects as many as 10 to 15 districts could sign on to the class action suit. "We're going to pursue a lawsuit against the ISTA trust in an effort to hopefully reclaim some of our money," Walker said. "... There is, all told, several million dollars here that's been somehow lost or mishandled or, for whatever reason, we're being told is not there. It's pretty devastating." Noblesville attorney David Day of Church, Church, Hittle & Antrim law firm, which is handling the suit for the districts, said Thursday it was "premature to comment" on the suit. He said more information may be available next week. Edward Sullivan, who was appointed trustee of ISTA's insurance trust by the National Education Association, said Thursday that ISTA is "going to make every good faith effort we can to resolve any outstanding issues with regards to the claim stabilization reserve accounts." The insurance was shut down by the state as of July 1 after ISTA said it was near bankruptcy and projecting multimillion shortfalls in coming years. ISTA is suing the trust's former executive director and other officials, alleging they mismanaged investments. Meetings to discuss the reserves issue with the districts affected have already been scheduled, Sullivan said. The association wants to compare the numbers it believes districts earned with their own estimates individually. Sullivan said it's also an open question whether the entities are even entitled to cash. Although the trust has no assets, he said the organization will try to the make accommodations it can. Superintendents in both Delphi and Caston said they have asked ISTA multiple times and not received information on how much was in their reserve and where that money is today. Each last received a statement on their reserves in summer 2008. Sullivan did not know the total that was outstanding in reserves. But he said all medical claims submitted under the insurance have been paid and long-term disability claims are also being paid. Caston Superintendent Dan Foster estimates his district had between $1.1 million and $1.2 million in reserve. The reserves were built up over several years because employee claims came in less than what was paid in premiums. Districts used the money to offer "premium holidays," or pay periods in which insurance was not paid by the district or employee, or to offset premium increases. Delphi and Caston are scheduled to meet with NEA officials in early December. But Foster said previously scheduled meetings have been canceled. "I have sent a letter, our corporation attorney sent a letter, we've had meetings scheduled and canceled, and we just have not received any information," Foster said. "We do not know where that money is, and we have -- or should have -- quite a bit of money sitting there." Walker said this year the district had expected to use about $160,000 of the reserve money to provide a savings in the general fund. The general fund pays teacher salaries and benefits. West Lafayette Community School Corp. also was covered under ISTA health insurance. Superintendent Rocky Killion said the district isn't considering the lawsuit. Treasurer Konnie Laws said the West Lafayette district also has not received a final account statement from ISTA, but based on prior years West Side would not have had a reserve.
Fewer Kids:
Caston Will Have More Student Losses In Decade (The Rochester Sentinel, 2/2/10)
BY
CHRISTINA M. SEILER Historical Review Of Those Occupying Caston Jr.-Sr. High School Principalship (3/18/10)Caston’s Jr.-Sr. High School Principal, Doug Olsson, has resigned the position effective July 1, 2010. Since the opening of Caston Educational Center in 1967 the
Jr.-Sr. High School has had twelve different principals. Eight of these have
been either for a one or two-year stint as noted below. This lack of continuity
of leadership is not good for the education of students nor is it fair to the
students and the community. That said, there may not be an easy or obvious
answer to this dilemma. However, that is no reason for not trying to improve the
situation. What are your ideas? 1967-68 Kenneth Hattery Caston Taps Strasser As
Principal (The Rochester Sentinel, 5/11/10) One of Caston School
Corp.'s own is returning to assume leadership of Caston Junior-Senior High
School. Caston OKs Virtual
Academy Expansion: Program Previously Now Open To Students Working Ahead
(Logansport Pharos-Tribune, 5/25/10) — Some students work hard just to catch up; others work hard just to get
ahead. Cass Resident Leaves
$500,000 Gift, Caston Students Majoring In Medical Fields To Benefit
(Pharos-Tribune, 9/4/10) FULTON — A Cass County resident who passed away last year left
a large monetary gift that will benefit Caston students going into certain
medical professions. Want to know more? • Kevin Lilly is news editor of the Pharos-Tribune. He can be reached at 574-732-5117 or kevin.lilly@pharostribune.com. Caston Elementary And Jr.-Sr. High Schools Put School Improvement Plans Online (9/4/10) Both schools are entering their second year (background info is here) of participating in the Indiana School Achievement Institute (InSAI). This has resulted in both recently posting online their School Improvement Plan for 2010-2011. INSAI is focused on raising educational achievement for all students and closing achievement gaps between rural, minority and low-income students and their more advantaged peers. The Elementary Plan lists Academic Goals beginning on p. 8, Areas of Concern beginning on p. 10 and Strategies to address both beginning on p. 13. The Jr.-Sr. High Plan lists Academic Goals beginning on p. 7, Areas of Concern beginning on p. 9 and Strategies to address both beginning on p. 11. Demographic Study Forecasts Loss Of 159 Students By 2019-2020 (10/12/10); Revised/Corrected (11/7/11) Jerome N. McKibben, Ph.D. of McKibben Demographic Research conducted a study during 2009-10 for Caston and its community. Its purpose was to forecast student enrollment numbers through the the 2019-20 school year taking into consideration changes in fertility, mortality and migration. In 2009-10 there were 803 students enrolled in K-12 and it is forecast (the numbers in parentheses) that during the 2019-20 school year there will be 644 students, a decrease of 159 students. McKibben's forecasts are noted in parentheses. Every fall on the third Friday of September the actual enrollment, known as "average daily membership" (ADM), is reported to the state. The ADM count is recorded next to the forecast (in parentheses). In the following table you will see that for the 2011-12 school year it was forecast there would be a total of 759 students, however, the actual count was 771. The ADM determines the General Fund dollars received from the state. For 2012 the State estimates (see p. 34) for each ADM student in grades 1-12 Caston will receive $6,226. Indiana funds only one-half that amount in the basic grant for each Kindergarten student. When ADM decreases fewer dollars are received from the state, thus, more students = more dollars, fewer students = fewer dollars. During subsequent years the ADM count will be entered into the table. (See "2012 Caston General Fund $$$ (And
Beyond) At A Glance" below the table.)
REVISED 2012 Caston General Fund $$$ (And Beyond) At A Glance (11/7/11) (Revised 12/26/11)
Number Of Non-Resident Students Attending Caston Increases 37.5% From Previous Year (11/12/11) - This is the second year that non-resident students have had the opportunity to attend Caston Schools tuition-free. Last school year 24 non-resident students attended Caston. This school year that number has increased to 33, a 37.5% increase from the previous year. The number of non-resident students is included in the above table. The brochure. "Caston Schools At A Glance," a brief video and a "Request For Student Transfer" form will be found here. Less Money Drives Reconfiguring The Superintendency For Small Corporations (Russ Phillips, 8/6/11; 8/10/11) (***If you are aware of other Indiana school systems not using a full-time superintendent please let Russ know at rbpjrfulton@yahoo.com.***) As small corporations
experience decreased funding they find themselves needing to examine essential
functions and how they can be fulfilled in a cost-effective manner. Several have
decided that it is not necessary to have a full-time superintendent. Others have
decided to consider consolidation of their school systems. With the help of the
Indiana Legislature even other scenarios are now possible. Argos Community Schools in
Argos, IN has 675 students with one Elementary School and one Jr.-Sr. High
School. A veteran educator serves as Superintendent and the
Jr.-Sr. High School Principal. Medora Community Schools of
Medora, IN has 276 students with one Elementary School and one Jr.-Sr. High
School. During the last three years the Superintendent also served as Elementary
Principal. He recently resigned saying the system could not afford
him. By
restructuring the administration Medora expects to save $50,000 to $75,000 by
having a part-time Superintendent working two days per week. Union School Corporation of
Modoc, IN has 403 students with one Elementary School and one Jr.-Sr. High
School. Several years ago the Superintendent also served in the same role for
Monroe Central School Corporation. The last three years a different
Superintendent, who recently resigned, served part-time and commented that this
arrangement is “more doable than some people think.” The new Superintendent,
also part-time, will work 156 to 200 days a year at $60,000 with no benefits. South Henry School
Corporation of Straughn, IN has 819 students with one Elementary School and one
Jr.-Sr. High School. Previous to this summer South Henry had a full-time
Superintendent throughout its history. Recently a part-time Superintendent was
hired as an independent contractor for 183 days per year for $64,500 with no
retirement benefits. ADDED Lanesville Community School Corporation of Lanesville, IN has 663 students with one Elementary School and one Jr.-Sr. High School. The Superintendent last school year also served as Jr.-Sr. H.S. Principal and is continuing to do so. Prior to that a part-time Superintendent, working about three days per week or as needed at about $460/day, served Lanesville for almost three years. A board member reports the current Superintendent/Jr.-Sr. H.S. Principal as regarding the position as "very manageable." (8/10/11) Another possibility relates
to the “Temporary Superintendent License.” This allows a school board to
request such a license for an individual meeting the requirements in 515 IAC
8-1-50. This individual, whether a current employee or not, upon being granted
the license could serve in the capacity of Superintendent for said school
system. Depending on the circumstances and desires of the school system the traditional
responsibilities of a small system Superintendent could be parceled out to
several individuals. Two Indiana school
systems,
Rockville (766 students) and Turkey Run (520 students), have recently decided to
pursue the possibility of becoming one school district. According to www.forbes.com
they are not alone. “Dennis
Costerison, an education lobbyist and executive director of the Indiana
Association of School Business Officials, said other small districts around the
state - including some in eastern Indiana's Randolph County and southeastern
Indiana's Ripley County - have been considering consolidation options even
before this year's school funding changes.” Indiana school board members are invited to join the
discussion on this topic as well as others on the forum that is part of the
“Indiana School Board Members” community on The Learning Connection.
Nontraditional
Licensing Of “Superintendent” Opens New Door For School Systems (Russ
Phillips, 8/21/11) Depending on the circumstances and desires of the school
system some of the typical responsibilities of a small system superintendent
could be parceled out to other employees. This could help make feasible a
building administrator also serving as superintendent.
"Temporary Superintendent License" Requested By Systems Of Differing Sizes (Russ Phillips, 9/12/11) - Issuance of a Temporary Superintendent License became a possibility in May 2010. Since then nine of these licenses have been issued. The previous two articles suggest how this license can be helpful to smaller school systems that are needing to reduce administrative costs. However, smaller systems needing to cut costs is not the only potential benefit afforded by this license. In essence, this license provides additional flexibility to a school system to secure a superintendent they regard as well-qualified for the responsibilities without the individual having to undergo the traditional superintendent preparation and licensing process. As stated in 515 IAC 8-1-50 (see above) only "applicable knowledge or experience" and a "master's degree" are required. The nine systems (as of September 1, 2011) having sought the license, and for whom, are listed below as well as the enrollment of the system and the current assignment of the individual granted the license.
Indiana Superintendents' Salaries And Benefits Lack Transparency And State Legislators Have Noticed (retitled, Evansville Courier & Press, 11/22/11) (This 3-part series by Thomas B. Langhorne was first published in the Evansville Courier & Press Sunday, November 20, 2011. The articles will be found in their entirety here. Original titles are: "The Cost of Indiana Education: An Examination of 275 Indiana School Superintendent Contracts," "Superintendent Pay Is High, But Job Is Tough, Contentious" and "New Legislative Session May Bring Changes for Indiana School Superintendents." Also, a database including all superintendents' salaries, contracts and other related information is here. Bold type and highlighting have been added by the Webmaster.) Part 1, The Cost of Indiana Education: An Examination of 275 Indiana School Superintendent Contracts - In broad daylight, using contract language with implications that typically go unexplained, Indiana school corporations are paying their superintendents far more than they're letting on. In an effort to keep published salaries low, school boards are giving superintendents the full cost of health insurance in cash, providing extra money for retirement accounts and collectively making more than $400,000 in mandatory payments annually on their behalf to a state pension fund. The findings are part of a Courier & Press examination of 275 superintendent employment contracts, which were requested from each of Indiana's 289 school corporations with superintendents...The accounting maneuver is simple. Evansville Vanderburgh School Corp. Superintendent David Smith makes $160,000 annually, according to his contract. However, he also receives $20,000 annually "which shall be paid into a mutually agreeable fund, or as the Superintendent may direct."...The extra $20,000 has value to Smith beyond pumping up his paycheck. EVSC reports it as part of his salary to the Indiana State Teachers Retirement Fund, which at retirement will average the five highest years of compensation to calculate monthly pension payouts. The practice is legal and within the retirement fund's guidelines, but it leaves many superintendent contracts and salary lists with incorrect salary information. It's a matter of public perception, said Mike Pettibone, superintendent of Adams Central Community Schools in Monroe, Ind. With state education funding down and some legislators roused by revelations of a $1 million-plus retirement package for an Indianapolis-based superintendent this year, perceptions matter. "A lot of times what people will do is, they'll look at your base (salary)," Pettibone said. "My base reads 94, and they're OK with that. But if they read the base at 109 or 110, they'd say that's too much." Pettibone's contract shows a base salary of $94,320. The contract also states Pettibone is solely responsible for purchase of health insurance, but then mentions he will receive an additional $15,012 – the cost equal to a family plan. Pettibone's $15,012 goes into an annuity which he can claim as part of his annual salary for pension calculation purposes..."A lot of times what (school boards) will do, they'll hire a superintendent and say, 'We're going to pay him $94,000 plus benefits.' But then a lot of times, benefits aren't explained," Pettibone said...In some cases, it is difficult for all but the most inquisitive Indiana residents to discover how much taxpayer money is flowing to their local school superintendent, even with a contract in hand. At Linton-Stockton School Corporation, 94 miles northeast of Evansville in Linton, Ind., Superintendent Nick Karazsia received an annual salary of $97,460 upon his hiring in November 2009, according to a Greene County Daily World news report. But the employment contract provided to the Courier & Press contains no base salary figure. Karazsia's contract includes cash in an amount equal to the cost for health, major medical, eye and dental insurance plans, which he could use to participate in the school corporation's plans. The contract specifies the money be reported in any case to the state retirement fund "for purposes of calculating employee's retirement benefit." Upon retirement, the contract states, Karazsia is entitled to school corporation-paid single health coverage "until eligibility for social security subsidized medical benefits for employee." But the contract, which includes a 5.75 percent annuity and payment of Karazsia's required contribution to the state retirement fund, contains no dollar amounts for any of this...Rodney Bredeweg, president of the Linton-Stockton Board of Education, declined to discuss Karazsia's contract. "If you've got it in front of you, I don't know why you'd have to ask questions," Bredeweg said. "I'm not interested in talking to you, though, but thanks." Pettibone questioned how offering superintendents' base salary numbers alone -- without expensive taxpayer-funded extras -- is different from what happens with private sector jobs. "It's the same thing, the guy working at General Motors," he said. "How much do you make? I make $24 an hour. But they don't say, 'How many benefits do you get? How many days of vacation do you get? What kind of retirement do you get?' " Pettibone said paying him an annuity that he can use to increase his pension later, instead of paying the same amount for his health insurance now, "doesn't cost the school district a penny more."...But state teachers retirement fund pension payouts are bolstered annually by hundreds of millions of dollars in state taxpayer-supported funds and not business profits. The superintendents' boosted pension payouts come in part from the extra cash that Indiana injects into the retirement fund annually through the state's budget. The upshot for school boards: Payment arrangements such as Pettibone's allow school districts to make up for state education funding shortfalls by paying superintendents on the back end of their careers and sending the bill elsewhere..."Realistically, people don't go buy health insurance with that money," Smith said. "They just go on their spouse's plan, or they have access somewhere else. It's just a way to increase compensation, I think, for superintendents because of the tenuous nature of the job." Smith, a 30-year EVSC employee, is married to a teacher in the EVSC system and is covered by her family health plan. He does not receive any payment for health insurance, for which EVSC employees pay 12 percent of premiums...Republican Rep. Jeff Espich of Uniondale, chairman of the budget-writing House Ways and Means Committee, says game-playing is exactly what's going on. Espich said he hadn't known that superintendents were taking cash for insurance instead of receiving insurance as a benefit. He suggested legislators should consider stopping the practice. "It's abusing the intent of the system," he said. "It's not the schools' problem. They're paying the money either way. Frankly, if the superintendent is buying his insurance, he's spending the money either way. The loser is the state teacher retirement fund, who's paying higher benefits than would be otherwise justifiable."...Some superintendents do pay for benefits now with the money they get to boost their pensions later. John Sayers, superintendent of Carroll Consolidated School Corporation and last school year's president of the Indiana Association of Public School Superintendents, earns a base salary of $94,128, according to his contract. That amount hasn't changed, Sayers said, in three years. And that's the amount the Carroll County Comet reported as Sayers' salary when his school board voted in June 2008 to give him a 2 percent raise. But Sayers, who will retire in December after 37 years in public education, also will count what his contract calls a $13,100 "additional salary amount" toward his total compensation for pension calculation. Speaking from his office in Flora, Ind., about 65 miles north of Indianapolis, Sayers said he puts the extra $13,100 into health insurance premiums, a health savings account and a tax-sheltered savings account. He feels his total compensation is "on the low end." "But I didn't get into this business to get rich. I think teachers are undercompensated, and so are administrators," he said...Dan Sichting answered the phone himself at the office of Bloomfield School District, a small district located in largely rural Greene County, 28 miles southeast of Bloomington, Ind. "We only have a treasurer and a receptionist, and the receptionist was gone to lunch," Sichting explained with a laugh. At 51 and entering his sixth year as superintendent, Sichting isn't looking to retire anytime soon. The money could be better -- his $96,500 annual salary hasn't increased in two years -- but it's a good job. Sichting says he earns his pay, getting involved in "everything from transportation to food service to everything." Meanwhile, he plays a waiting game. Tucked away in his contract is a taxpayer-funded benefit that Sichting intends to use years from now, when he will finally be in position to take maximum advantage of it. The contract pledges "health insurance and hospitalization, major medical, long-term disability, term life and vision insurance and dental reimbursement" in the same forms all other administrative personnel receive those benefits. Then it says, "The superintendent shall have the option of receiving the district's contribution as base pay." Sichting, who supposes he will retire when he is Medicare-eligible in his mid-60s, isn't exercising that option just yet. He currently pays 20 percent of the cost of premiums for family plan health insurance, with the school district paying the rest. But he is well aware that the first step in calculating a member's monthly pension benefit is averaging the highest five years of annual compensation. His hope is to start receiving his premiums in cash as he enters the stretch run of his career in education -- when it counts the most. "Normally your last five years are going to be your highest in terms of your highest compensation," Sichting said. At Paoli Community School Corporation about a dozen miles east of French Lick, Ind., Superintendent Vic Combs also is trying to get the most bang for his taxpayer buck. Combs doesn't get squat for retirement -- but that's because he started collecting an unreduced taxpayer-funded benefit two years ago. Combs, 68, retired in July 2009 as an assistant superintendent with 45 years in the system. But under a "retire rehire" provision in state law, he came back after waiting just 30 days. Combs, who started his career in public education as a 22-year-old science teacher and golf and baseball coach, took a 3-percent pay cut when he returned from his 30-day break. But with his full retirement pension benefit coming in, the pay cut doesn't hurt so much. When then-Superintendent Alva Sibbitt resigned to take another job effective Jan. 1, Combs was appointed interim superintendent. He now does his former job as assistant superintendent while also carrying out the superintendent's duties. "I'm saving the school a bunch of money by them not having to pay into my retirement, the pay cut I took, and hey, I'm two in one for the same salary. Come on," Combs said with a laugh. Combs, who is "halfway planning retirement" when his contract expires in July 2012, feels no guilt about tapping into the state retirement fund before actually retiring. "I earned it," he said. "I'm not getting anything I didn't earn." Part 2, Superintendent Pay Is High, But Job Is Tough, Contentious - They work hard for the money, Indiana school superintendents say — and scrutiny of their compensation should be considered in that context. Sometimes they even wonder whether all the hard work is worth the total compensation, which the Courier & Press discovered is often provided in methods that result in a higher salary than disclosed to the public...Even with the quiet bump in pay, school system chiefs who spoke to the Courier & Press decried the fact that they must be equal parts politician and educator to succeed. The frustrations unique to the line of work led Mike Berta in October to announce he was done. The 62-year-old superintendent of Portage Township Schools, plans to retire in June after four decades in public education. He has no other job lined up. Berta's base salary, $135,200 annually, is supplemented by the school district's payment of his mandatory 3 percent contributions to the Indiana State Teachers Retirement Fund. The school corporation pays 80 percent of his health insurance premium. In an interview conducted three weeks before he announced his retirement, Berta sounded like a man who had had enough. "There's more personnel issues to deal with, issues with (school) board expectations of a superintendent, financial challenges. We've had budget reductions since 2008," he said. "All of those and all the political factors that play on the superintendency, at least in my case, keep me out of the buildings and having contact with staff and students." Berta's salary has not gone up since 2008...Michael Adamson, director of board services for the Indiana School Boards Association, said it's easy to lose sight of the demands on a superintendent. "They are the chief executive officers of multimillion dollar corporations throughout the state. All of them are," said Adamson, whose organization helps identify and vet superintendent candidates...Adamson and several superintendents told the Courier & Press the average tenure of a superintendent in Indiana is three or four years before moving on, typically to other school districts. Many schools are funded at a slightly lower level now than they were in 2009, so superintendents and their supporters were taken aback when their compensation commanded legislators' attention in January. Indianapolis television station WRTV reported that the Wayne Township School Board had negotiated a $1 million-plus retirement package for Superintendent Terry Thompson upon his departure in December. This resulted in heightened scrutiny of the remaining superintendents. Those who spoke to the Courier & Press said Thompson's contract — and Thompson himself — embarrassed them all. "Clearly, that person was looking out for himself," said David Smith, superintendent of Evansville Vanderburgh School Corp. "I was very frustrated at the one individual who I thought abused the system, so then you deal with that individual." Wayne Township schools sued Thompson last week, accusing him of carrying out a multi-pronged, deceitful scheme to defraud the district. Public disdain at Thompson's situation has helped shape the way superintendents respond to inquiries about their own contracts. Several who spoke to the Courier & Press stressed the scope of their responsibilities, state budget cuts and a lack of pay raises in recent years...Steven Disney, superintendent of Oregon-Davis Community Schools in Hamlet, Ind., is conflicted. Disney, 43, is beginning his fifth year at Oregon-Davis. He actually accepted a job as superintendent of school in the city of Mishawaka in March, only to change his mind weeks later. Disney's wife, a media specialist in another school system, was unable to get a job near Mishawaka — a serious consideration when times are tough. And Disney said the situation is indeed dire at Oregon-Davis, a small rural district where revenue for operations dropped from $4.8 million in 2007 to a projected $3.95 million in 2012. Disney also holds the title of business manager. Teacher and administrator base salaries at Oregon-Davis have been frozen for three years and will be frozen for two more. "It's horrific," Disney said. "It's not outside the realm of possibility that we could have to consider a general fund referendum, really drastic cuts or consolidation with another district if it doesn't get better." Disney voluntarily took a 6 percent salary reduction to $93,000 before this school year. Oregon-Davis pays his 3 percent contribution to the teachers retirement fund and provides him health insurance for $1 annually. Disney says his family situation will keep him at Oregon-Davis for the foreseeable future, but he has had offers. Lots of offers. After all, Oregon-Davis had the largest collective ISTEP test score increase in the state this year...Disney said he isn't suggesting school superintendents should be paid on a par with university presidents, but he asked why their compensation has risen while he feels compelled to take a pay cut. Earlier this year, the Ball State University Board of Trustees approved a 10 percent increase in President Jo Ann Gora's base pay. The $39,204 pay raise brought Gora's base salary from $392,040 to $431,244. Michael A. McRobbie, president of Indiana University, got a 12 percent increase to raise his base pay to $533,120 for the 2011-12 fiscal year. John Ellis, executive director of the Indiana Association of Public School Superintendents, says school chiefs are not tapping the teacher retirement fund any more than are teachers. Ellis pointed to the Indiana School Boards Association's 2010-2011 Management Wage & Benefit Report, for which school districts themselves provide compensation data. The annual report pegs the average superintendent salary at $115,326 — just $50 above the 2009-2010 figure...Ellis acknowledged that many school districts allow superintendents to receive cash equal to the cost of health insurance instead of taking the insurance as a benefit paid by their districts. But more teachers than superintendents negotiated that benefit for themselves, Ellis said. He estimated that is the case in a third or more of Indiana's nearly 300 school districts...But Ellis acknowledged he has no data to prove many teachers are receiving health benefits paid in cash, and he could not name any of the school districts. Nate Schnellenberger, president of the Indiana State Teachers Association, said he knows of no school district that extends that benefit to teachers. "I'm not going to say 100 percent I'm positive, but I'm like Ivory Soap: I'm 99.9 percent sure that that's not happening in Indiana — for teachers. For teachers," Schnellenberger said... Part 3, New Legislative Session May Bring Changes for Indiana School Superintendents - Changes could be in store for Indiana school superintendents in the legislation session that will begin in January. Sen. Jim Banks, R-Columbia City, a member of the Senate Education Committee, is considering what to include in a bill that he says will be part of a larger push to direct more education spending into classroom instruction and less on administration. Caps on superintendent salaries are no longer in the game plan for Banks, who believes that idea — unpopular with most legislators anyway — wouldn't have enough impact to move the needle. Banks said he was unaware that, in an effort to keep published salaries low, school boards are giving superintendents the full cost of health insurance in cash, providing extra money for retirement accounts and collectively making more than $400,000 in mandatory payments annually on their behalf to a state pension fund...The extra taxpayer dollars are included in annual total compensation figures given to the Indiana State Teachers Retirement Fund and used to calculate monthly pension payouts...Republican Rep. Jeff Espich of Uniondale, chairman of the budget-writing House Ways and Means Committee, also told the Courier & Press he hadn't known that superintendents were taking cash for insurance instead of receiving insurance as a benefit. "You know, maybe we ought to take a look at stopping that sort of abuse," said Espich, who believes the state teacher retirement fund is being misused. "I never thought of it, never heard if it, but these local officials can be pretty innovative." Given the billions spent on school system operational budgets, Banks is persuaded at this point that superintendent salaries are "sort of just a bump in the mountain of the issue." Reducing severance pay to superintendents and decreasing school corporations' health insurance obligations will be focal points of whatever legislation he produces before January. Among the other ideas, the legislation may include a requirement for school boards to publish the total monetary value of their school superintendents' contracts at least 30 days before a contract is voted on. Banks also favors requiring school boards to post online details of superintendent compensation packages before considering them and forbidding outgoing board members from negotiating superintendent contracts. Convinced that state education spending priorities are misplaced, Banks aims for Indiana school districts to spend 65 percent of their combined $6.3 billion in operational budgets on teachers, textbooks, tutors and other in-the-classroom functions. Gov. Mitch Daniels said in this year's State of the State address that, on average, 59 cents of every education dollar is spent on student instruction, with 41 cents spent on overhead. The 65 percent target likely will have important support on the House side from Espich. "The reality is, too much of it goes to administration and bureaucracy and those are dollars that don't get to the classroom, so that's a great goal," Espich said...Banks hopes to include in his legislation a call for a summer 2012 study committee on the issue, a fact he said illustrates by itself that changes will take time. According to an e-mail message sent to Banks by the Indiana Legislative Services Agency, the assignment of expenditures to categories is done by representatives of the budget agency, the Department of Education, the Legislative Services Agency, the state superintendents association, "school business officials" and the state school boards association...Steven Disney, superintendent of the Oregon-Davis School Corp. in Hamlet, Ind., said a superintendent salary cap would be anti-competitive and anti-free market. Disney, 43, is in his 21st year in public education in Indiana. Working in several school systems, he has been a teacher, an assistant middle school principal and a middle school principal. "When you take competition out of the means for attracting superintendents, you're going to diminish your supply, and there are going to be more and more capable superintendents who are going to look elsewhere, whether it be outside the state or in the private sector," he said...Banks says the Department of Education told him the state's school superintendents are paid more than $32.9 million collectively in salary, but that figure doesn't include benefits and perks. The superintendents association says the new survey will present an accounting of all the numbers. Pending possible changes by the Legislature, the flow of information about what and how school districts are paying superintendents often is controlled by the districts themselves...Disney said Indiana needs a fully transparent, mandatory accounting of superintendent salary, benefits and perks, posted online. He called that a much better idea than a salary cap. "There should be some more transparency with this," he said. (Related article - Webmaster) Greater Clark School Board Gives (Superintendent) Daeschner Options On Pay Cut Vs. Job Loss (Louisville Courier-Journal, 12/4/11) The Greater Clark County School Board is offering Superintendent Stephen Daeschner the chance to remain in his current position at a lower salary, become the district’s academic leader or leave, the board’s president said Tuesday night. “The consensus is, we want him to stay,” President Christina Gilkey said after a closed board session Tuesday night. But, she said, she can’t predict what will happen. “We still are negotiating” with Daeschner, Gilkey said. The board has delayed its vote on the superintendent’s contract until a public meeting Dec. 20. It previously planned to vote on the contract Dec. 6. Daeschner was hired in 2009 after a number of community leaders and board members recruited him from a suburban Chicago school district with 29,000 students that was expected to pay him more than $260,000 if he’d remained for the next year. He was recruited because of his 14 years’ experience as superintendent of the approximately 100,000-student Jefferson County, Ky., school district and with the expectation that he would improve Greater Clark’s academic performance. There is agreement that the system’s academic performance has improved under Daeschner, but there has been opposition to a number of his appointments. And members of the school board frequently have rejected his budgetary and other administrative recommendations. Shortly after 6 p.m., about 35 minutes after the executive session started, a solemn Daeschner, accompanied by general counsel Sandy Lewis and board member Kevin Satterly, walked to the board’s meeting room. Daeschner and Lewis walked out about an hour later. He declined to comment on the meeting or on whether he would remain at a lower salary. Daeschner’s three-year contract expires June 30, but the board must take action by year’s end if it wants to amend or terminate it. Nancy Kraft, a board member who supports Daeschner, 69, said before last night’s meeting that she hopes the superintendent will stay with the district but couldn’t predict how her six colleagues will vote. “In jobs I’ve had, if you do a really good job, you get a raise or at least get retained,” Kraft said. But her colleagues have been most concerned about Daeschner’s salary, Kraft said. At $225,000 a year, it’s the second-highest for a superintendent in Indiana. “My grandma used to say, ‘You get what you pay for,’ ” Kraft said. “I think we have.” She said that, in 2½ years under Daeschner, the district’s statewide test scores have increased faster than the state average, and the two high schools — Charlestown and Jeffersonville — that were on academic probation have come off the state’s watch list because their test scores have risen so much. Gilkey agreed that the district has performed well academically under Daeschner. But she said she believes his salary is too high given the district’s current financial difficulties. Because of projected shortfalls in revenue, the board is looking for more than $4 million in budget cuts, which also are supposed to be acted on at next Tuesday's meeting. Gilkey said before last night’s meeting that she can’t predict the outcome of the board’s deliberations about Daeschner’s contract. But she said she would like the board to offer the superintendent a lower base salary — perhaps in the $150,000-to-$175,000 range — with performance-based bonuses that, if achieved, might raise it toward the current level. It would be much easier to justify such a high salary, Gilkey said, if it’s based on attaining ambitious goals. Board member Becka Christensen said before last night's meeting that she thinks Daeschner “is worth the $225,000. We just can't afford it.” “The man is brilliant,” Christensen said, adding that she might be able to support paying the superintendent as much as $175,000 but doesn't know what her fellow board members will agree to. “If he’s willing to take a pay cut, that says even more about the man,” Christensen said. Kraft declined comment after leaving the meeting. (Related article #1) (Related article #2) The Doctor Is Out: 5-2 Vote Sends Superintendent Packing (Jeffersonville News and Tribune, 12/7/11)
JEFFERSONVILLE — The Greater Clark County Schools Board of Trustees voted
5-2 Tuesday night to not renew Superintendent Dr. Stephen Daeschner’s
contract. ...Some 200 people attended the meeting...
...(Board member) Gilbert said he had planned to vote to keep Daeschner but
changed his mind because he was “disappointed by the circus-like
atmosphere.”... (more) Caston Announces Distinguished Alumni Recognition Program (1/7/12) - On January 6th Caston announced that beginning this June at Caston High School’s graduation, the Caston School Corporation will recognize a group of several Caston High School graduates as the 2012 Caston Distinguished Alumni. A new group of Distinguished Alumni will be selected annually. Details and the Nomination Form are here. Who might you nominate?
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