Dist. 57 business manager gets one bonus, due another in 2012

For sticking with District 57 for five years, business manager Dale Falk was paid a $12,500 bonus this year and will be paid a $17,500 bonus in 2012.

The “longevity bumps” are in addition to Falk's yearly salary, which was $123,848 in 2011, not including pension contributions.

This sort of contract would not be approved today, said Joseph Leane, current school board president. Leane was on the board when Falk's contract was approved in 2005-06 and is running for re-election in April.

“This may seem fishy to some people, but it's something that goes back years,” Leane said. “Five years ago this was very common. It was to encourage administrators to stay through the end of their contract. There are costs and a learning curve involved when administrators leave.”

Falk did not return phone calls or e-mails regarding this article.

Since 2005-06, District 57 has been phasing out these bonuses, and Falk is the only employee with them still in his contract. When Superintendent Elaine Aumiller was hired in 2009, she wasn't promised a similar bonus, Leane said.

“We've been on the forefront of reducing administrators' salaries.” Leane said. “I would say our administrators are at the very bottom compared to neighboring districts. Our superintendent is one of the lowest-paid superintendents in the area.”

Aumiller's base 2010 salary is $163,500 plus $26,090 in pension contributions. Falk gets $21,125 in pension funds. Aumiller gets $6,000 a year for travel and a cell phone, while Falk gets $1,440.

Falk's title was recently changed from business manager to assistant superintendent for finance and operations. No extra pay came with the title change, said Aumiller, who suggested the change to the school board.

“I think the new title is just much more appropriate,” Aumiller said. “He's overseeing several departments and wears many different hats.”

One of those is transportation. Although the district is outsourcing bus operations for the first time this year, Falk is still involved and still helps parents solve transportation issues, Aumiller said.

And regarding his bonus, Aumiller has no hard feelings that Falk has one while she does not.

“The board wanted to keep some stability in the central office team (in 2005),” Aumiller said. “It was very common back then.”

But that doesn't mean it's OK today, say the other three candidates running for the District 57 school board. Four people, including Leane, are running for three board seats.

Denny Composto, Nick Papanicholas and Joe Sonnefeldt all said the school board should revisit Falk's longevity bonuses and, if possible, eliminate them.

Composto said he doesn't like administrator bonuses.

“A salary should be a salary,” he said. “I know you can't just terminate a contract for no reason, but we should look at this.”

A few weeks ago, the school board talked about raising fees for textbooks and sports and possibly cutting some programs to save money. It's a different time compared to 2005-06, Papanicholas said.

“It's something the board should sit down and renegotiate,” he said. “I don't think anything is untouchable.”

Sonnefeldt agreed and said the board should talk to Falk about reopening his contract.

“I think the board should ask him to forgo that bonus or restructure it so that it's spread out over several years,” Sonnefeldt said. “I guess the board was thinking that we'd have more money some time in the future.”

Almost half the Mount Prospect residents who answered a recent community survey said they were unhappy with the financial management of the district, which dipped into its reserves to cover a $1.5 million deficit this school year.

About 2,000 residents replied to the survey and gave high marks to the district's teachers and its music and orchestra programs.

The lowest marks went to the district's school board and transportation.