Staff writer
All USD 408 employees will receive a 15-cent hourly or $250 annual raise in pay, the board of education decided Monday.
Increments for seniority and advancement also were increased.
Central office and administrative staff will receive salary increases of $750.
Superintendent Lee Leiker said the $750 increase would keep pace with raises for those with increase in incremental as well as base pay.
The base salary for Marion teachers will go from $34,000 to $34,250.
The district also reduced the number of contract days for teachers from 187 to 186 and it also approved supplemental contracts for coaches and club sponsors.
Brea Campbell will take over as volleyball coach and assistant softball coach.
Topher Rome will take over as golf coach. That position previously was filled by Peabody-Burns, with which Marion shares a team.
New hire Tomas Lambotte will take over as vocal music director, assistant girls’ basketball coach, and assistant track coach. Gary Stuchlik will take over for Bruce Rhodes in supervising hazardous chemicals.
Handbook changes
The district approved handbook changes for all three schools.
Elementary students will now be marked tardy at 8:25 a.m. instead of 8:30; the times during which parking in the school’s front driveway is prohibited were reduced to more accurately reflect when buses are using it; lockers can be opened by all school personnel at any time, not just by the principal; students on vacation will have to make up work in advance of vacation, and the school makeup policy was modified to exclude vacation trips.
Middle school students will no longer receive four-week progress reports, as grades can be checked by parents online.
High school students now must be at school from 11 a.m. to the end of the school day to be eligible to partake in school activities that night; previously the handbook stated students must be at school for half the day, but did not specify which half.
In other business:
- Board president and vice president Chris Sprowls and Sarah Cope, respectively, were honored with certificates and cake for 12 years of service to the school board. Nick Kraus and Timothy Young will replace them July 1.
- The board approved the resignation of second grade teacher Laura Baldwin, who will take an administrative position with Marion County Special Education Cooperative.
- The board considered purchasing an activity bus for $70,000 but decided to wait until the legislative session ended. “We run the risk that the bus may be sold,” Leiker said, “but I’d rather take that risk than count on legislation to do the right thing.”
- The board approved continuing an agreement with Peabody-Burns for co-sponsoring a golf team. Coach Jim Pohlman of Peabody-Burns retired and will be replaced by a coach from Marion.