Gilman School Board sets 4% wage increase for 2023-24

Board members rule out using grant funds to give staff a retention bonus

Teachers and staff at the Gilman School District will receive a 4% wage increase for next school year.

At Monday’s school board meeting, board members approved setting the increase after reviewing the increases in other area districts and discussing the potential options.

At last month’s board meeting board members had asked district administrator Walter Leipart to collect additional information about how Gilman staff compared to other districts and the trends that were being seen.

Leipart said the increases being seen around the region are between under 2% and as much as an 8% increase. He said the average increase has bene 4.5% with the median increase being 4%. That said, Leipart noted there were two neighboring districts that were implementing raises of 8% and 8.1%. On the lower end, he said Cadott schools approved a 3% base increase with the addition of step and lane movement in their pay grid.

Leipart also noted the district has asked him to look at numbers for a potential one-time retention bonus based on between 2.75% and 4% of the current year’s wages. He explained this would come out of the district’s federal ESSER grant dollars which were part of the COVID-19 relief packages.

According to Leipart, the district currently has $600,000 in ESSER funds that have not been earmarked for specific purposes. “That is the ballpark about what hasn’t been committed,” he said.

Leipart noted that the lowest paid teaching position in Gilman gets paid $41,140.

In addition to salary, the district has other costs such as health and dental benefits, retirement and payroll taxes. Leipart gave the example of a staff member who makes a wage of $50,712, and with other expenses, the total package is $88,701.

Board member Valorie Kulesa noted that the way she looked at the numbers, it appeared that there were only two certified employees under $50,000, and they were part-timers. Leipart disagreed giving examples of three staffers below that amount.

“I am looking at total compensation,” Kulesa said. “I don’t think our base is that far off,” said board member Chris Skabroud. He noted he has two children working in larger school districts one of whom is at about $40,000 and the other at about $42,000.

Board president Cheryl Ustianowski said they are comparing to other districts in this area. It was noted that Owen-Withee is starting at $41,500 where Gilman is $41,140 for starting wage. The wages are based on a 190-day year.

“That is a pretty good wage for the hours worked,” Skabroud said.

Leipart discussed the retention bonus idea. He said the district attracts employees from Eau Claire and that at one time they had seven or eight teachers who were driving from Eau Claire. He said now, the district isn’t getting the number of recruits that other districts get.

Leipart said they are also facing staff members who have the potential to leave Gilman and go to a nearby district to the west and get paid $10,000 more than being in Gilman.

In light of the district having the federal ESSER funds to use, Ustianowski suggested going with 4% retention bonus on top of the 4% wage increase. “This is a one time deal,” she said.

“If they get a retention bonus once, they will expect it every time,” said board member Tammy Weir saying she felt a 4% increase was plenty without the bonus.

“I think 4% is a nice percentage,” said board member Lauren Zach. She said if they went higher they would need to look at those years where they might not be able to cover the costs.

Board members approved giving a 4% raise for staff for the coming school year with no retention bonus.

In related action, later in the meeting, board members also approved a 4% salary increase for Leipart. The board is looking at it now so it was in place by the time the new payroll year began in July.

Leipart noted that with the change in the position to include the district administrator overseeing special education, 50% of the salary can be credited to Fund 27 and go toward the district’s special education costs which is amiable He said this will decrease the amount charged to fund 10 (the main operational account for the school) by about $55,000.

Skabroud noted the district previously gave Leipart a $10,000 increase. Leipart said that was done following a comparison of other districts and earning his doctorate and brings him up to the average.

Board members approved increasing Leipart by 4% for the coming school year with Skabroud voting no and Darrell Thompson absent.

In other business, board members:

  Discussed the potential to air condition the remaining section of the school which includes science labs. Leipart said they are seeing an increasing number of days where air conditioning is needed and that in those days it could be 72 degrees in the rest of the building and 90 degrees in the labs. He will research costs and bring it back to the board.

  Reviewed the district’s ACT and ACT Aspire scores. The district’s composite score for 9th grade was 15 with a 16-20 score predicted for the ACT. In 10th grade, the district’s score was 16 with a 17-21 range predicted for the ACT. For the juniors taking the ACT, the compost score was 18.7. Leipart noted that virtually all students take the ACT now, versus in the past when only college-bound students would take it. He noted that of their senior class there are seven that are going on to college. He said he was pleased to see the upward trend in the scores. “I think our trend is in the right direction,” he said.

  Approved the contract to continue to be part of the SOAR program which transitions 18 to 21 year old special education students from school to a career. The district has two students in the program and shares in administrative costs. The total cost is $39,388.

  Approved setting high school fees with no changes for the coming year. Fees remain at $20 for class fees, $225 for driver’s ed, and $30 per sport (with a $120 per year family maximum).

  Approved setting the lunch fees for the coming year. Leipart said they did the cost analysis for meals on the federal rate and found that they did not have to make increases for the coming year. Meal prices will remain the same.

  Approved open enrollment requests with 16 students coming in, breaking down for three for Gilman Schools and seven for the e-Succeed charter school. The remaining six were returning open-enrolled students. This was offset by 24 applications to go to other school. Leipart explained this was only actually 16 students but because students may apply to multiple districts, the number of applications was more.

  Referred to a committee that will include staff, a parent and a student, the district’s extracurricular and National Honor Society criteria. Leipart proposed the committee to do the work of reviewing and making recommendations for any changes and to bring it back to the full board prior to August 1 to be implemented for the coming school year.

  Approved a number of purchases and building improvements. Leipart noted they will come first from ESSER funds and then from the district’s Fund 46 capital improvement funds account that they have been building up for the past several years. Projects include new flooring ($22,337), a floor scrubber to replace a 19-year-old piece of equipment ($16,129), blacktop repairs ($15,465), a new dishwasher ($64,533) and bathroom partitions ($43,326) which will be a solid plastic and resist staining and discoloration. In a separate motion with board member Jessica Wisocky abstaining, board members approved hiring Wisocky Construction to do concrete sidewalk repairs at a cost of $7,150.

  Approved a bid for milk products from Wenger Distributing for $23,580.