School board split on pay change
The Lincoln Parish School Board reviewed a mountain of new data on the competitiveness of its employee pay and made several changes to its pay structure at a special meeting Thursday, but it was just one of those items that split board members nearly down the middle.
On a 5-4 vote with one abstention, the board adopted a new compensation structure that will significantly reduce full-time employees’ sales tax supplement checks — known as the 13th and 14th checks — but instead spread those funds across their monthly paychecks.
The change keeps total yearly pay the same as before, but certified employees will see about $500 more in gross pay per monthly check, while full-time support staff would see a $250 gross increase.
Meanwhile, the two bonus checks’ combined amount for certified personnel will drop from $11,152 to $5,152, while support staff’s will drop from $5,576 to $2,576. Those are estimated numbers, as the bonus pay fluctuates every school year based on sales tax collections.
Many board members approached this vote with apprehension, saying they believe teachers and other employees are divided nearly 50/50 on which payout method they’d prefer.
“The way life has changed the past two or three years: gas is higher, groceries are higher, utilities are higher, insurance is higher… it’s a tighter budget now for most people,” board President Gregg Phillips said. “An extra $500 a month might give them a break. But I realize also that some people love getting the big bonus check.”
In the end, only half of the 10 members present voted for the change: Phillips (District 8), Donna Doss (District 4), Danny Hancock ( District 5), Otha Anders ( District 10) and George Mack, Jr. (District 11).
Vice President Danielle Williams (District 1), David Ferguson (District 2), Clark Canterbury ( District 3) and Lynda Henderson ( District 9) voted against the change, and Hunter Smith (District 7) abstained from voting.
Because a voting majority only counts those who cast votes, five was enough to pass the measure.
Henderson, who runs a tax services business with her husband, compared the big bonus checks teachers receive to a tax refund.
“I’ve talked to some, and most of them like those bonus checks,” she said. “Being in taxes, I always tell people, don’t take exemptions during the year. Take it at the end. It’s like a gift — they enjoy it.”
Beyond employee preference, district officials said they recommended the board make the change because increasing monthly pay would help with recruiting new employees.
“When teachers are interviewing, they’re looking at their household income, and they’re wanting to know what they can get by on,” Chief Financial Officer Juanita Duke said. “You get to the point where you have to be responsible — to pay your employees a wage that they and their families can live on.”
Employees who prefer the larger bonus checks will have options to divert the increase in their monthly pay into a separate savings account to essentially recreate the effect of the old 13th and 14th checks, whether through their own banks or through credit unions that partner with the school district.
Duke and Human Resources Coordinator Julie Stephenson said the district will work to make sure employees understand those options.
The idea for the change came from a study by consulting firm LEAN Frog, who analyzed the school board’s pay structure to determine how competitive it is compared to other employers in the public and private sectors.
LEAN Frog made many other recommended changes to the school district’s compensation plans. Look for more in Sunday’s edition.
