Shawnee Mission principals, many administrators to receive pay raises

School principals and other administrators in the Shawnee Mission School District will receive pay increases of up to 2.5 percent under new contracts approved Monday by the school board.

The decision comes days after the district’s teachers agreed to a new contract for the 2016-17 school year that included one-time stipends for teachers who can’t advance further in their respective pay ranges, and additional payments to offset rising health insurance premiums.

Administrators who have reached the top of their salary ranges will receive similar stipends while the salaries for first time principals and underperforming principals are frozen. Combined, Deputy Superintendent Ken Southwick said the average salary increase was less than 2 percent.

“I think we’ve done it in a consistent manner, and have used consistent amounts of money across all of our people,” Southwick told the board.

District officials typically wait until after they’ve approved teacher pay before moving on to administrator salary changes.

Board members on Monday also approved similar raises for around 20 school psychologists.

The administrator raises do not include Southwick or Superintendent Jim Hinson, who are working under three-year contracts that were approved in May 2015.

In other business:

▪ The board approved a set of principles to guide the district’s discussions with Kansas legislators this upcoming session while they aim to create a new funding formula for public education in the state.

Lawmakers are under pressure to create a new funding formula after replacing the old formula with block grants to the districts. The Kansas Supreme Court this year determined those grants to be unconstitutional.

District officials asked the public for ideas on what a new formula should look like, seeking to update the original set of principles drafted in 2010.

“We were trying to focus in on students and not districts,” said board member Deb Zila. “There were 31 pages of comments that we all read, so we took in the input that was given to us by this survey and took it to heart and really tried to put forth some of the ideas that we heard, some of ideas that were updated from our 2010 principles. It was a very thoughtful process.”

The list includes making sure any proposed formula is fair to all Kansas P-12 students, not just those in particular districts, and is financially sustainable.

The list also stresses giving school districts some authority over local funding, ensuring that funding is balanced and equitable between income, property and sales taxes, recognizing that public funds should go for public education — a veiled comment on potential plans to offer parents vouchers to enroll their children in private schools — and encouraging school districts and state colleges and universities to share resources.

▪ The board voted 4-3 to retain the proposed name of the district’s new administration building as the Center for Academic Achievement. The center is under construction on the site of the former Antioch Middle School on 71^st Street in Overland Park and is expected to open early next year.

Board members chose the name, included in a list of seven developed by teachers and students planning to take classes in the building. The center will combine operations currently housed in three locations, as well as provide a home for the district’s specialized programs.

They also approved renaming the Shawnee Mission Instructional Support Center on 96^th Street in Overland Park as the Shawnee Mission Early Childhood Education Center. Faculty at the center said they felt the former name didn’t adequately explain the center’s purpose and the new name would make it easier to attract parents and students.

▪ District staff also proposed increasing the fees they charge outside groups that rent school facilities, such as scouting organizations, lacrosse leagues or church groups.

Rick Atha, assistant superintendent for instructional support, said the district hasn’t updated its rental prices in six years and is now charging less than many surrounding districts for the use of classrooms, auditoriums, athletic facilities and other property.

The proposed rates, which also include fees for district staff to assist or clean up after an activity, charge one price for nonprofit groups and often double for for-profit groups.

Atha said the prices are designed to make sure the district recoups any costs for renting out its facilities and not make a profit.

The board is scheduled to vote on the new rental prices at the November 28 meeting.

This story was originally published October 25, 2016 at 11:33 AM with the headline "Shawnee Mission principals, many administrators to receive pay raises."