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School board approves bonuses
By J. David Barron, dbarron@starlocalnews.com
By a narrow margin, the Allen ISD School Board approved a one-time lump-sum payment to district employees totaling $2 million during the Board's monthly meeting Sept. 25.
The payment was presented to the board by Kent Turner, chief human resources officer, with the motion being approved by a 4-3 vote. Trustees Louise Master, Susan Olinger, Lois Lindsey and Gary Stocker voted for the payments. Mark Jones, Jason Shepherd and Carl Clemencich cast their votes against the motion.
"Basically what the school district is doing is giving a one-time lump-sum payment to increase compensation for 2012 only - as a result of the state cutting funding in 2011," said Tim Carroll, public information director for the district. "Employees of the district will not be receiving this lump-sum payment again next year."
"In 2011 the state cut a lot of funding and (as a result) we have not given the teachers a raise in a while, so last year we had a TRE (Tax Ratification Election)," Carroll said. "There was a 1 percent raise on salary last year and the district decided that wasn't sufficient. So that is the gist of these payments."
The TRE passed by Allen voters last year increased property taxes by 13 cents per $100 of property valuation. In addition, under the Robin Hood state school tax system the Allen ISD is projected to have to pay a re-capture payment of more than $700,000. That amount is a result of the Allen ISD being classified as a Chapter 41 district, according to the state code. Shepherd and Jones expressed that it was all too much right now in casting their dissenting votes.
"My concern is we are being asked to approve a $2 million bonus within months of the TRE during the greatest financial crisis in the schools of Texas history," Shepherd said.
Turner countered the payments were the best option available.
"I think we have been fiscally sound with this option and I think that we have put together a good, solid package," he said.
Jones took exception with Turner's statement.
"I'd have to respectfully disagree that we are being fiscally sound with this proposal," he said. "Our greatest charge is to ensure the future financial viability of this school district.
"I don't think we can do that by offering a $2 million bonus when we just got finished asking our taxpayers to pony up 13 cents extra just last year ..." Jones said. "I don't think we are being fiscally responsible to our constituents with this package."
The money will come from the district's assigned fund balance. Master said approving the bonus sends a strong message to the ISD's teachers.
"I voted for the lump sum payment for (the) teachers for several reasons," Master said. "When we asked voters to approve the TRE last year, we told them it was to reduce class sizes and (help) keep teachers in the district. In addition to reducing class sizes, we approved a modest 1 percent pay raise for our teachers this year ... and raised our starting teacher salary to $46,000.
"However, I feel it was necessary to also have this one-time payment as a conservative approach to ensuring that our teachers are acknowledged for their commitment, while (also) being fiscally responsible," Master said. "The one-time payment enables us to remain competitive with our surrounding districts, and shows our teachers that we appreciate the job they are doing for us without creating an ongoing expenditure for the district. We were able to take the payment out of our assigned fund balance that was set aside for items such as this."
Olinger noted the pressure the district feels from surrounding communities.
"I voted for the lump-sum payment because passage of the TRE allowed us the flexibility to do it and because I think it is important to remain competitive with other area districts that gave larger raises."
A subsequent recommendation and approval to release the $2 million from the assigned fund balance also passed 4-3 with each school board member voting the same as they had in the vote approving the bonus.
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