West Feliciana board freezes teacher pay, makes other cuts

ST. FRANCISVILLE — A $1.5 million budget shortfall forced the West Feliciana Parish School Board on Tuesday night to freeze teacher salaries, cut administrative pay and propose a retirement incentive program.

Retirement funding costs have skyrocketed in the past four years, jumping more than 50 percent and weighing down the School Board’s available funds, according to figures provided by the board’s secretary and finance manager, Ruthie Davis.

“I do not think we get out of this deficit without a reduction in force,” said Superintendent Hollis Milton, who will join other administrators in taking a pay cut. “We’re deeply saddened that we’re going to lose some good teachers.”

The School Board expects to pay out more than $4 million to state retirement programs next year, which would represent a roughly 35 percent overall spike compared to four years ago.

The state once funded the School Board’s retirement, transportation and health insurance costs, but it no longer does, Davis said.

“It’s breaking school districts,” Davis said of the state-mandated increases to retirement contributions.

In addition to the retirement cost burden, the school district is also dealing with a shrinking student population. Because the School Board receives a certain amount of money per student through the state’s Minimum Foundation Program, when enrollment drops, so does funding.

The school district’s enrollment has declined by about 90 students in the last few years, representing a loss of about $450,000 per year in state funding.

In spite of record-high school evaluation marks, the school district faces difficult budget-related decisions that could lead to layoffs, Milton said.

Other matters coming before the board included:

RETIREMENT INCENTIVE: When Tunica Elementary School closed two years ago, the School Board offered teachers a $10,000 stipend to retire. Only two teachers already set to retire accepted, so the program wasn’t cost-effective enough to implement.

The School Board proposed a similar program Tuesday, although the stipend amount has dropped to $5,000.

Davis said that if between 15 and 18 teachers were to accept the offer, the program could save the School Board almost $500,000 in salary expenses.

School Board member Amanda McKinney said that challenges posed by increasing standards and implementing new curriculums might push teachers to accept the proposal this time around.

Comments

1) Comment by ScotB - 23/03/2013

Well, duh! A retirement system that promises 50% of average pay to 42 year old retirees is destined to go broke! As originally set up, a 22 year old teacher could work for 20 years and then retire, receiving 2.5% x 20 of their 3 years highest pay. They could retire at 42 and hope to live until 90, drawing a retirement check for 48 years. When the system doesn't have enough money to pay accumulated future benefits as calculated by actuarial accountants, they just up the required contribution from school districts. It's great way for a 42 year old teacher making $55K/year to go to $80+K a year. Just "retire" and then keep working!

2) Comment by Concerned_Parent - 20/03/2013

@teacherguy.....WF is not in full support of the school reform package. Ask whatever representative you talked to to go interview the teachers and parents.

3) Comment by teacherguy - 20/03/2013

@ Concerned Parent, good point! the state representative told me that W. Feliciana and zachary superintendents told him that they were for the school reforms in the last legislative session (E. Feliciana was against it.). If that is true, then W. Feliciana cut their own throats by offering their support...another sign that until public education in LA gets together on the issues, they will continue to divide and conquer.

4) Comment by Ohsofedup - 20/03/2013

Maybe the following list of salaries is the reason school systems across the entire state are on financially strapped. A quick peek indicates that some of the unclassified salaries seem to proliferate in the Department of Education: • John White, Superintendent: $275,000; • Michael Rounds, Deputy Superintendent: $170,000; • Howard Drake and Gayle Sloan, Liaison Officers: $160,000 each; • Kerry Laster, Executive Officer: $155,000; • David Lefkowith, precise title still a mystery: $146,000; • Kunjan Narechania, Chief of Staff to John White: $145,000; • Gary Jones, Executive Officer: $145,000; • Deirdre Finn, part time PR Director (working from home in Tallahassee, FL.): $144,000; • James P. Wilson, Director (of what?): $142,000; • Melissa Stilley, Liaison Officer: $135,000; • Elizabeth Scioneaux, Deputy Superintendent: $132,800; • Debra Schum, Executive Officer: $132,000; • Hannah Dietsch, Assistant Superintendent (someone please explain the difference between an assistant superintendent and a deputy superintendent.): $130,000; • Nicholas Bolt, Deputy Chief of Staff (as opposed to assistant chief of staff): $105,000. Perhaps you may have noticed in that lengthy laundry list of high-paying position, there was not a single name followed by the title “Instructor” or any other title that would indicate classroom experience.

5) Comment by Concerned_Parent - 20/03/2013

This should be a wake up call to everyone who thought "school reform won't affect us, we have a good school system". WF has consistently had high test scores, high accountability rankings, and very high percentage of certified teachers. The teachers already have a large increase in mandated paperwork and useless reporting to do as part of this great "reform", and now they are going to have less bodies around to do it. That means even more work for the people left behind, and less instruction time for the students. But let us not forget Mr. White's famous comment of "those that retire early are more than likely to be rated uneffective anyway". OR, they could be victims of an idiodic plan in which our children must suffer the consequences!

6) Comment by Iamhopeful2 - 20/03/2013

"“It’s breaking school districts,” Davis said of the state-mandated increases to retirement contributions." That's the intent along with eliminating teaching as a profession with certification. That would make teachers at will employees and increase the multimillion dollar annual profits for Teach For America (see their IRS records). Now White has pushed through a new MFP that cuts funding for special education, gifted and talented programs, and again manipulated the calculation of school performance scores for a variety of reasons. Time for an investigation of all these practices like those being conducted by the FBI in Ohio and El Paso, Texas. It's not nice to mess with Federal Funding.

7) Comment by teacherguy - 19/03/2013

Lets not forget that the state has mandated school systems provide technology for testing...and has made no financial provision to assist in this mandate. Maybe they can recoup some of the "lost" students by accepting students escaping the failing E. Feliciana school system??? At which point do the school systems tell teachers its time to strike and make it clear to the general population that they have been getting a bargain, and quite possibly the state can't progress without us scourges of the earth?