R-8 board to consider teacher raises

May 12, 2008 09:04 pm

— By Joe Hadsall
jhadsall@joplinglobe.com
Employees of the Joplin R-8 School District would see an aggregate pay raise of 4.2 percent if the Board of Education approves a salary package.
The board will discuss the raises during its meeting tonight at Joplin High School.
“This is our attempt at a cost-of-living increase,” Superintendent Jim Simpson said. “The prices of gas and groceries have gone sky-high. With this package, we’ve reached as far as we can reach.”
If the board approves the package, teacher salaries would be increased by $1,160 on all steps of the district’s salary schedule. The package also includes increases for benefits, such as the health-insurance plan.
The package’s cost would add about $1.8 million to the total amount spent on salaries.
In other business, the board will:
n Discuss construction of walking tracks around Eastmorland and McKinley schools.
Simpson said recent construction projects allowed for the schools to have tracks for physical education.
“Our students would benefit from them,” he said. “The same tracks would be available for neighborhood residents.”
The board will consider three surfaces of varying expenses: asphalt, gravel and mulch.
n Consider moving the Beacon School into the second floor at Washington Early Education Center, 1112 E. Second St.
Construction at Eastmorland, McKinley and Stapleton schools has led to some early childhood programs vacating Washington, Simpson said. The Beacon School is being held in rented space at The Bridge in Joplin.
The Beacon School is a consortium of 10 school districts and serves behaviorally disabled students.
“Although we’re thankful to The Bridge, that facility was always intended as a stopgap until we could get it back into an educational facility,” Simpson said.
n Consider in closed session the discipline of two employees at Cecil Floyd Elementary School.
Principal Evan Mense and teacher aide Tierre Fields were placed on administrative leave last week as part of an internal investigation. They were suspended because of alleged unspecified, inappropriate behavior and neglect of duty.