School board approves updates to Appendix A

With the first day of school for School District of Rhinelander students right around the corner, the district’s board of education voted Aug. 21 to update Appendix A, the portion of the employee handbook that governs compensation for the district’s coaches and advisors.

Proposed revisions to Appendix A cleared the employee relations committee on Aug. 14 as did the administration’s recommendations to add a few new high school clubs and middle school teams.

In a memo to the committee, district activities director Brian Paulson noted that Appendix A has not been revised since 2011. He also noted the district’s desire to “attract and retain high quality coaches for our programs.”

As part of the updates. the administration recommended adding an ice fishing team/club at RHS as well as Raise Your Voice (a club focused on mental health) and Key Club.

The recommended middle school sports additions are softball, baseball, intramural golf and 6th grade football.

Superintendent Eric Burke started the discussion by noting that “Appendix A hasn’t been touched for 12 years.” 

“It was time for us took at it,” he added. “What we tried to do is make it sustainable over time. We’re using a base of $46,000. There would be slight increases each year instead of waiting another 12 years.”

The $46,000 figure represents the district’s base pay for teachers, it was explained.

The total cost increase associated with the revisions is $93,704, according to a handout distributed during the committee meeting. The current cost of compensation for coaches and advisors is $307,194. With the board’s approval of the changes, the cost will increase to $400,898.

Board member Ron Lueneburg asked if the administration researched the compensation offered for comparable positions at adjacent districts like Lakeland, Northland Pines and Antigo.

“We see Wausau as a comparison but why Wausau and what other districts did you speak to?” he asked.

Activities director Brian Paulson stated there are lot of differing philosophies regarding coach/advisor compensation. For example, some districts focus on longevity. He said the Rhinelander administration considered that but ultimately decided to go in a different direction.

“We felt like there might be new coaches that would come in that are just as talented. Why do they have to start off at a lower level compared to working with the tiered method?” he explained. “Every district is really a lot different.”

“The model we’re looking at, going off of base pay, is to try to keep it a living document each year instead of waiting 11 or 12 years,” he added.

The compensation for the mock trial advisor was adjusted down as 12 years ago that program also included a mock trial course and that’s no longer the case.

“That was a concern I had is we’re paying the teacher to teach a class and then we’re paying the teacher for the number of hours coaching and if that’s part of that, that’s really a double benefit,” board member Judy Conlin noted.

Board member Merlin Van Buren was pleased to see that “we’re treating all the sports equally and all the activities equally.”

“Once you start favoring one sport over another then you’re asking for trouble,” he added.

The vote was 7-0.

Board member Mike Roberts abstained as his son is a coach in the district.