Governing Board Approves 1% Increase to Base Salaries

A plan crafted with input from all three employee groups of the Scottsdale Unified School District, which provides for a 1% increase to base salaries for 2002-2003, was approved by the Governing Board Tuesday night.

"Teachers, classified personnel, and administrators will realize the increase in their base salaries next year due in part to an agreed-to modification in the health insurance plan," reported Kim Cumby, executive director for human resource services.

An employee insurance committee comprised of representatives from all three employee groups worked for more than a month to restructure the plan and put the savings into salaries, noted Bob Flach, chief financial officer.

"With the initiative of our insurance committee and the three meet-and-confer teams, the District will be able to fully fund employee health care coverage next year, as it has in the past, and still provide for a slight increase to base salaries," Mr. Flach said. "It could have been a lot worse, especially in light of declining state monies, declining Prop 301 sales tax revenue, and the mandatory cuts to our maintenance and operation budget due to the defeat of an override election last November."

Teachers will realize the 1% increase in their base salaries, in addition to the funding of horizontal movement on the teacher salary schedule. Due to the reduction of Prop. 301 monies, teachers also will work two fewer days next year, which does not affect students.

"The meet and confer process this year opened the door to a mutual commitment for ongoing communication throughout the year. It gave us an opportunity to build trust and solve problems together," Ms. Cumby said.

"We plan to continually share financial information with representatives from all employee groups, and to continue to seek their input to identify additional cost savings for the District," Mr. Flach said.
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The Scottsdale Unified School District has 33 schools serving 27,025 students. More than 3,000 persons are employed by the district, including 1,829 teachers. The district celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1996. Its boundaries include most, but not all of the city of Scottsdale, almost all of the town of Paradise Valley, a section of the city of Phoenix, and a section of the city of Tempe.