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Dist. 15 board narrowly approves administrator raises

The Palatine Township Elementary District 15 board narrowly approved raises for administrators this week, but not before a heated discussion underscored the ongoing division among its members.

The board at a special meeting Wednesday voted 4-3 in favor of the merit-based wage increases ranging from 1 percent to 6 percent.

The vote included new contracts for Superintendent Scott Thompson and Deputy Superintendent Jim Garwood to reflect the salary adjustments.

Thompson, whose contract expires in 2017, received a 2.25 percent increase to $228,808. Garwood, whose contract expires in 2016, received a 3 percent raise to $170,950.

Board members squabbled over several issues, beginning with the impact on the district's finances.

“Financially, we're just getting out of the hole,” Manjula Sriram said. “We can't re-dig that hole. We have to be very careful about how we spend the money.”

Scott Herr said the administrator raises, which average 3 percent, weren't consistent with the raises given to other employee groups. However, Thompson noted that the board had previously authorized an overall increase of 3 percent for administrators and said administrator raises in recent years have been “far less” than those for other groups of employees.

Board President Peggy Babcock and board members Richard Bokor, James Ekeberg and David Seiffert supported the increases.

Debate also focused on the status of Thompson's job goals. Herr, whose motion to discuss the contract in closed session failed by the same 4-3 vote, said at least three are incomplete — such as identifying future programs that would enhance children's educational experiences — while the contract states he has met performance and improvement goals.

Babcock, reiterating that legal counsel had signed off on the updated contracts, said certain goals are for the entirety of the multiyear contract.

“He has four (more) years to actually do the goals,” she said.

Sriram questioned why the board bothers meeting for several hours each year at a retreat to set annual goals if they're for the length of the contract.

Herr also outlined his concerns that the board wasn't discussing goals until its retreat later Wednesday night. He criticized the handling of the recently approved support personnel union's contract. The negotiations and agreement affected the “collaborative and effective operation of the board,” he said.

Gerard Iannuzzelli joined Herr and Sriram in dissenting.

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