U-46 ties Torres raises to teacher pay in new contract

Elgin Area School District U-46 will keep Superintendent Jose Torres in place at least until 2016.

The U-46 board approved a new contract with Torres Monday that extends Torres' contract through June 30, 2016. The decision means one of the prime movers of Destination 2015, a five-year plan for U-46 schools, will be around to see it through to completion.

“Dr. Torres has impressed this board of education with the progress that has been made since we hired him in July 2008,” outgoing board President Ken Kaczynski said in a statement. “Because we want to see continuing progress, we have tied Destination 2015, our ambitious five-year accountability plan, as the key performance objective for Dr. Torres.”

Stability, though, will come at a cost. Under the new contract, Torres is set to receive salary increases every year starting in the 2011-12 school year — unless teacher salaries are frozen.

Starting in July, Torres' salary will rise from $220,000 to $223,300, a 1.5-percent increase. If teachers get an increase greater than 1.5 percent, however, Torres will receive the same percentage increase.

In the remaining four years of his contract, Torres' salary will increase at the same rate as U-46 teacher salaries. The board can boost Torres' base salary further if he meets his performance goals.

In addition, in each year of the contract the district will place $10,000 into a tax-deferred annuity that Torres will be able to draw upon in retirement. This is in addition to Torres' state pension, which will allow him to earn as much as 75 percent of his working income each year while he's retired.

Under the contract, the district will pay Torres' required contributions to the Illinois retirement system, which means that amount will not come out of his paycheck as it does for many educators.

The contract also includes an incentive for Torres to stay until 2016. If he stays until then, the board will pay up to $70,000 into the Illinois retirement system to buy credit for the years he worked in California. Essentially, that will allow him to collect his pension sooner.

Torres became U-46's superintendent in 2008 and was already slated to stay at his post until 2014. With the new contract, U-46 locked in for another two years a leader who has attracted some national attention in education circles.

One U-46 parent, however, said the public should have been more involved in the decision to extend Torres' contract — echoing concerns expressed last week by new board member Jennifer Shroder.

“We want you to ask us for feedback at times,” Veronica Noland told the board Monday. “This district has a history of issues related to … obligations the school board makes … that the public is not aware of until after the fact.”

The U-46 board drew considerable ire from parents and taxpayers when it handed former Superintendent Connie Neale a lavish compensation and retirement package in 2007.

Torres' contract extension was the last major decision of the outgoing school board. Traci O'Neal Ellis and Jennifer Shroder replaced Ken Kaczynski and Karen Carney after Monday's vote on the contract.

Shroder said it was appropriate for the board to act before seating new members

“It wouldn't be fair for us to have to deal with that. They're the ones who evaluated him,” Shroder said.

Torres has earned a base salary of $220,000 since arriving in the district because of administrative salary freezes. His contract extension comes as the board is preparing to negotiate new contracts with six employee unions, including teachers.