July 2, 2014 at 4:35 p.m.
School committee adjusts coach and advisor compensation
School committee adjusts coach and advisor compensation
The committee began its work on Tuesday as it discussed possible revisions to Appendix A, which is the document that outlines the compensation for all of the district's coaches and advisors.
The Employee Relations Committee asked that the compensation schedule be revised in April, following a discussion about a possible pay raise for mock trial coach Kathy Vick-Martini and assistant coach Jim Jacobi.
Instead of approving the raises, the committee told Activities Director Brian Paulson to reconvene the Appendix A Committee during the summer and consider revisions.
Paulson, RHS Principal David Ditzler, student council advisor Kay Coates and volleyball coach Kathy Wawrzynowicz began the process by discussing potential adjustments, including whether the mock trial coaches should receive a pay bump.
After several hours of discussion, the committee decided to increase the base stipend for the position held by Vick-Martini, split it into two seasons and eliminate the incentive pay.
During the 2013-'14 season, Vick-Martini earned a $2,400 base stipend. Because her team advanced to state competition, she earned a $600 bonus. After the team won the state championship, she earned a $1,000 bonus. She was eligible to earn another $1,000 if her team could bring home the national competition but the squad finished in eighth place.
Under the committee's proposal, Vick-Martini's pay structure would be simplified.
The panel is suggesting Vick-Martini earn $3,000 for what is deemed the regular season. Should the team win the state championship and qualify for nationals, she would earn $1,500 for what is deemed the nationals season.
"I propose $3,000 for the normal season and $1,500 for the second season," Ditzler said. "I think that gets her close to being back where (her compensation) was (before changes were made to Appendix A two years ago)."
No revisions were proposed for Jacobi's pay.
The committee also made a change that will affect all advisors and middle school coaches.
Currently, high school sports head coaches are on a three-level system. They can move up and down a level depending on evaluations conducted after each season. For the advisors and middle school coaches, there are no levels.
The committee would like to create two levels for those positions. The second level would be paid at the rate the coaches and advisors are currently being paid - or in some instances, what the positions will be paid after the revisions are complete - while level one coaches and advisors will be paid about 7 percent less than that figure. All current advisors and coaches will be placed in the second level until an evaluation says otherwise, while new hires will be slotted into level one until they are able to move up to level two through evaluation.
"That gives them some incentive," Paulson said. "All of them would have the opportunity to get to level two."
While all of the advisor positions will be split into two levels, three of the positions will have asterisks next to them indicating that they are activities taught during the day as regular classes.
If the school board approves the committee's suggestions, the yearbook advisor and the newspaper advisor will have asterisks next to their positions in the schedule explaining that the positions will not receive a stipend if the activities are performed during the school day in a classroom setting. Should either activity be dropped as a class, compensation would revert back to $2,500 for yearbook at level two and $1,200 for the newspaper at level two. Level one would be 7 percent less than those amounts.
"I think we should have an asterisk after yearbook and newspaper advisor saying if these are taught as a class, then these stipends would not be paid," Coates said. "Then, at some point, if we have to cut yearbook as a class, then it's still on paper because if we don't have the class, I don't have a problem paying that position, so I would hate to lose it off the document."
The debate advisor will face similar circumstances, though he or she will still receive an $800 stipend to cover after-hours activities including weekend debate competitions. Should debate be dropped as a class, compensation would revert to $2,400 for level two or 7 percent less than that for level one.
While most of the revisions proposed involved activity advisors, there was one change suggested under sports coaches.
At the present time the Alpine ski head coach does not receive any incentive pay for winning in the postseason. The committee wants to change that.
Under the proposed revisions, the Alpine head coach would receive $600 for a conference championship and $1,000 for a state championship. A second-place finish at state would net the coach $500.
Moving forward
Paulson said he will make the suggested changes to Appendix A and post the full schedule for public comment.
According to a press release from the district, the new draft will be up on the district's activities webpage on July 7.
"Coaches, advisors and community members are invited to discuss the revisions" at 6 p.m. July 10 in the Superior Diesel Advanced Learning Center, the release states.
The committee will then have another meeting at 1 p.m. July 15 in the Rhinelander High School conference room to discuss the results of the community meeting.
Another community meeting is scheduled for July 22 at 6 p.m. in the Superior Diesel Advanced Learning Center to discuss any new revisions.
The committee hopes to finalize the document July 24.
Appendix A will then be discussed by the district's Operations and Strategic Planning Committee on Aug. 1.
The school board is scheduled to approve the schedule on Aug. 18.
Anyone with questions regarding Appendix A, or meeting the schedule, should contact Paulson at (715) 365-9500.
Marcus Nesemann may be reached at [email protected].
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