Rib Lake board opts for sustainability with raises
School board members approved 3.2% average increase for teachers
Members of the Rib Lake school board attempted the balancing act of offering a fair, competitive wage to staff while being responsible to taxpayers at the July 14 school board meeting.
Board members approved setting the base wage for new teachers with a 4% increase over last year. When spread over the entire teacher wage grid, it breaks down to a 3.2% average increase for teaching staff.
District administrator Travis Grubbs said the 4% is at cell A1 of the pay grid, this is the amount paid to new teachers in the district. He said the 3.2% is taking that as an average over the steps, which amounts to $894 over the year above their step increases.
Grubbs noted the 3.2% was below the the consumer price index (CPI) which showed cost of living had increased 4.7% over the previous year. Grubbs said he felt he could make it work within the projected budget for the coming year if the board chose to go with the CPI increase.
While board member Jason Dananay said he felt they should increase to match CPI, board president Stacy Tlusty was more hesitant noting it would be an increase to the budget of $33,000 a year just for the teaching staff for that amount. She noted that if the teachers get that raise, the support staff will expect the same.
“I feel this is something we need to pass tonight,” Tlusty said in response to suggestions that they hold off and talk more with staff. In addition to the teacher’s pay, administration also proposed an increase of $0.62 per hour for support staff to get up to being comparable to the amounts offered by other districts in the region.
Board member Jackie Mohr noted this gets the district from being toward the bottom to being in the middle .
“We want to make sure we can sustain it,” Mohr said, of any proposed base wage increases. “Who knows where things are going?” she asked.
Grubbs said that looking long term if the board did a high-end increase for everyone, and there was not biennial increase in next year’s state budget, the district would still be able to manage a small raise next year.
“If we get a big biennial increase, things would be a lot nicer,” Grubbs said.
“Some raise is better than none in my very personal experience,” said board member Nicole Scheller.
Board member Rollie Thums said it is important for the district to be competitive with wages. “We don’t want to be at the top, we don’t want to be at the bottom, we want to be in the middle,” he said.
Thums noted he has two grandchildren who are working part-time this summer making $22 per hour. He said the district needed to be aware of the labor market and be competitive.
“When I look at this it scares me,” he said, noting that there are many staff who don’t have any allegiance to the district and could be lured elsewhere. “I want to pinch that penny as hard as you do,” Thums said, noting the Taylor County Board is facing a similar concern.
In the end, board members approved keeping the 4% increase at the base teacher wage (averaging a 3.2% increase over all teacher staff) and a $0.62 per hour increase for support staff (averaging to 5% increase).
Football cooperative
The future of the decades-long football partnership between Rib Lake and Prentice high schools will hinge on what comes out of an August 9 meeting between board members, staff and football parents of the two schools.
Faced with a decreasing number of competitive schools within practical driving distance for regular season games, Rib Lake is considering switching from 11-man to 8-man football. Under current WIAA rules, the combined enrollment of Rib Lake and Prentice high school would make the team ineligible to compete in post-season play at the 8-man level.
Grubbs said the August meeting will focus on what is the best plan for the football cooperative going forward with the goal of reporting back to the boards at each school.
“We need to make a decision by September to be able to apply to the WIAA,” Grubbs said.
The committee will be made up of the head coaches and athletic directors from each school as well as school administrators, athletic directors and selected football parents. The meeting will be held at Prentice High School on August 9 at 7 p.m.
Board president Stacy Thums and board member Rollie Thums will join Jon Dallman and Grubbs to represent Rib Lake on the committee.
Grubbs said he felt it was an encompassing way to include more people in the decision making process for how to move forward. Any suggestions will not impact the season set to begin next month, but will be for 2023-2024 season at the earliest.
Handbook changes
Cellphones and other electronic devices won’t be allowed on playgrounds before school.
Dallman highlighted that change as part of the student handbook revisions being reviewed. Board members reviewed handbooks for elementary, middle and high school levels with the handbooks to come back for a second review and adoption at the August school board meeting.
Dallman said the district already didn’t allow cellphones to be used during school operating hours. He said he extended it to the before school time. “They were watching things that I don’t want them watching, or learning about things that I don’t want to have to explain to parents,” Dallmann said of past issues with playground use of the cellphones.
Both Dallmann and middle/high school principal Kirsten Budimlija addressed policy clarification for part-time students. Under the handbook, home school students can take up to two courses in the school buildings.
Dallmann noted this isn’t always feasible because of how the day is set up at the elementary level. “It is hard to bring someone in just for art or music,” he said, explaining that while they may have those classes twice a week, they could be at different times depending on what is going on in the classroom. This is easier to handle at the more uniformly structured middle and high school levels.
At the high school level, Budimlija proposed changes to the attendance requirement for participation in commencement ceremonies. In the existing policy students must be present for 93% of classes in order to participate in graduation. She said this causes confusion with things like college visits or excused professional appointments. “What is 93% nobody knows what that is,” she said.
In place of the percentage amount, the proposal is to do 7 days per semester for excused days. Other proposed changes include: establishing that the district will put a hold on releasing transcripts due to unpaid fines; set consistent wording for honor roll at the middle and high school levels; require students to sign out and back in when they leave the building to run to their vehicle; prohibit hoods being worn in classrooms; and prohibit students from selling things out of their lockers. She noted the prohibition on selling items is actually a federal rule.
In other business, board members:
_ Received an update from Dallmann about training in the “Superkids” program at the Pre-K to grade 2 elementary level to ensure that teachers are comfortable with using that tool. He also updated the board on non-violent intervention training that he said was very important for all staff, but especially for special education aids.
_ Gave their OK to continue working with Presence Learning to provide school psychologist services rather than contracting with CESA 9. According to Dallmann, CESA 9 had previously worked with Presence Learning to provide the service. Dallmann noted that it was important to find one that works well with the school district. He said the district is going into self assessment year for special education where they go through all the individualized educational plans to review them. “The last thing I want is for a brand new school psychologist looking through that,” he said, noting they would not have any of the history on each student. He said the cost would be about the same to go with Presence Learning directly as it was to go through CESA 9 for the service.
_ Received a facilities update. The Middle School gym floor replacement is complete with work finishing on the threshold. Grubbs noted the doors are slightly too long and rub on the new floor so they are looking at options of either shaving off some of the bottom of the door or replacing the doors. He said he suspected they were from 1980. He also reported the handicapped access door buttons have been installed and that the fiber optic connections will soon be in place.
_ Took no action on setting school lunch prices. The district is waiting for what the reimbursement rate will be to set the prices for the coming school year.
_ Received good news that due to a misclassification in the workers compensation insurance, the district will see a lower increase this year than originally projected. Grubbs noted that the district would be getting a refund from the prior year for the error. Overall the various liability insurances remained about the same as in the past with the note that cyber liability to cover computer-based attacks, and legal liability were seeing increases.
_ Approved allowing Grubbs to begin the process to seek bids for shortterm borrowing. Short term borrowing is done routinely throughout the year to meet payroll and other costs between the district receiving lump sum payments for the tax settlements and state aid amounts. The actual borrowing will be done at a later date and include rate and amount information.
_ Approved formally adopting the academic standards for the coming school year without any additions or changes.
_ Approved Fund 80 proposals to fund the fitness center, hall of fame program, and community outreach program and baseball field maintenance. Other projects include improvements to the trail system specifically to increase the off-street parking near the softball diamond to improve safety and get vehicles off of CTH D. Grubbs also noted the outdoor hockey boards are in rough shape and may need to be replaced or repaired. “The walls are pretty rotten,” said Thums noting that he didn’t like how it presented the school. “It is pretty ugly right now,” he said.
Stacy Tlusty
Travis Grubbs
Kirsten Budimlija
