LITTLE ROCK — The North Little Rock School Board approved a pay increase for district employees Thursday that fell short of a plan drafted by a committee of teachers that it rejected earlier in the same meeting.
The board-approved proposal will now go to the district’s personnel policy committees for approval, though some teachers indicated they plan to reject it.
The plan, proposed by Superintendent Ken Kirspel, calls for a $500 raise and a one-time $500 bonus for teachers and administrators, a one-time $250 bonus for nonteaching employees and small increases to the district’s other pay scales.
“I think we would all like to see it be more,” board member Scott Miller said.“There’s nothing to prohibit us from revisiting this issue in a couple of months.”
District employees have not had raises in two years.
Employees move up a “step” on their pay scales with each year of experience. A pay raise would increase those levels to adjust for cost-of-living changes.
Board members said it would be difficult to fund larger pay increases while the school system completes a district-wide building plan, which will be partially funded through cutting costs from other parts of the budget and redirecting those funds toward capital projects.
The licensed personnel policy committee, which represents the teachers, proposed a 2 percent increase to each “step” of the pay scale for teachers and administrators and asked the district to absorb a $24 increase in monthly health insurance premiums that will take effect Jan. 1.
The board rejected that plan, but members committed to search for new ways to fund raises in the future.
The board-approved pay increases will cost $677,510 and the bonuses will cost $618,170, Kirspel said.
Majoice Thomas, who represents the teachers’ committee, asked the board not to approve Kirspel’s plan without taking some time to explore the feasibility of the teachers’ request.
Board President Scott Teague asked Thomas why she didn’t want to “take the bird in the hand” and wait for the board to add to teacher raises in the future if it becomes possible.
“It’s my perspective that we will be stuck with whatever you vote on tonight,” she said.
Board member Dorothy Williams voted against Kirspel’s proposal.
“We’re so busy building buildings that it seems like we may be forgetting teachers,” she said. “As hard as we look to find money to build, we should also look for money to pay our teachers.”
The $266 million building plan will touch nearly every building in the district.
Under that plan, the board also authorized district administrators Thursday to negotiate a purchase of the Waffle House near North Little Rock High School West to make room for its expansion. The restaurant would relocate if the district can reach an agreement to buy it, facilities director Gerald Cound said.
The district also will discuss purchasing city-owned properties to the north of that high school’s campus, he said.
Arkansas, Pages 11 on 12/21/2012