Board Member Cites Deficit Concerns in Opposition to Administrative Raises

Update 5/8:

The board member behind the single "no" vote on a pay plan that will increase the average salary for Rockwood Administrators told Patch Wednesday that his opposition is based on concerns over the district's deficit.

Jeffrey Morrell said he agrees, in principal, that the district's employees need to be paid a fair and competitive salary, acknowledging a find by a Rockwood committee that its administrators ranked 21 out of 22 in terms of average total compensation among St. Louis County school districts. 

However, given the district's project $11 million deficit, Morrell said those raises need to be paid for with an equal amount of cuts so that they don't add to the red ink.

"If we were going to go give them a raise, what would we do without to bring us closer to a more balanced budget?" he said. "If I am in my car headed toward a cliff, I don't step on the gas."

Currently, the plan is estimated to cost an additional $350,000 above last year's budget for administrative salaries. 

Complicating the board member's discussions on the issue was an inescapable time line. They were legally obligated to have a contract with the administrative staff in place by May 15, making a quick decision by the new board necessary.

It will be the first of many major decisions facing the district, which along with Mr. Morrell, has two new faces. Loralee Mondl was elected along with Morrell in April while Darby Jo Arakelian was recently appointed to fill the unexpired term of Steve Smith.

Original story: 

A few weeks before agreeing to move forward on a budget with an $11 million deficit, the Rockwood School Board voted in closed session to give district administrators a pay raise.

The raises are in the form of a revised administrative pay plan that seeks to raise the average compensation for such personnel, which officials say lags far behind their counterparts in other St. Louis County districts.

Details of the plan were presented publicly at an April 11 meeting, followed by a closed-door discussion among board members that ended with a 4-1 vote to phase in the new plan over three years. Board member Jeffrey Morrell voted against the proposal while board member Keith Kinder abstained.

For 2013-14, the plan is expected to cost an additional $350,000 above the current school year's budget.

The board acted on a recommendation from a committee made of Rockwood administrators. According to their report, salaries for Rockwood administrators are significantly lower than almost all other St. Louis County school districts.

Pulling numbers from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, the committee said that in 2012, Rockwood ranked 21 out of 22 with an average compensation of $99,479 for administrative personnel, while top-paying districts such as Brentwood and Kirkwood shelled out upwards of $130,000.

Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Kelvin McMillan said this disparity is causing attrition among the district's ranks with administrators making "lateral moves" to other districts and receiving a $15,000-$25,000 bump in pay. He declined to cite specific examples, but said this knowledge was based on "personal conversations" he has had with former Rockwood staff.

According to previous reports by Patch and Rockwood's website, the last few years have seen several administrators leave Rockwood for positions with other districts or educational institiutions. They include:

• accepted a position at the Clayton School District June, 9 2011. 
• accepted a position in another school disctrict June 1, 2012. 
• accepted a position as the CFO for the Cooperating School Districts of Greater St. Louis May 23, 2012. 
• accepted a position with the Edina School District in Minnesota in May of 2012. 
• Tara Nattrass, Assistant Principal Wild Horse Elementary School, accepted a position with another district March 9, 2012. 

District Chief Communication Officer Kim Cranston said the gap has diminished the district’s ability to recruit high-quality administrators, noting that they have been forced to start their interviewing process from scratch 18 times over the past four years after not being able to find any acceptable candidates for certain positions.

The new pay plan introduces a uniform formula that will be applied to all administrative positions. It starts with a base salary and adjusts it for a variety of factors, including the position, years of experience, level of education and performance.

McMillan said the purpose of three-year phase-in is to gradually bring up that base salary, listed at $90,600 in an example worksheet, until it equals 90 percent of the average salary for a St. Louis County administrator. For the 2011-12 school year, that 90 percent figure would be around $95,000.

"Our goal for compensation has always been the same," he said. "We want to get to the middle.'

Board President Bill Brown voted in favor of the plan and said it was necessary to prevent the "talent drain" described in the report and by McMillan. Speaking about the nature of the closed door discussions surrounding the vote, Brown stressed that nothing had been done covertly.

"Nothing is secret," Brown said. “We knew it was going to become public.”

Officially, the closed session was invoked under Missouri statutes protecting discussions about specific personnel. The law notes that this does not apply to salaries, which are a matter of public record for all district employees.

Brown said those details will come out later, likely when the board officially approves the 2013-14 budget. He added that one of the main reasons for the closed session was to allow a "frank and honest" discussion among the board members.

"If we are going to recruit and retain quality people, we feel that we have to make that move," he said.