By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
The Hays USD 489 school board at its meeting Monday reviewed a new pay schedule that would boost pay for some secretaries and clerical staff.
The school board was first presented a classified wage study on June 16. It found several classes of USD 489 employees are not making as much as their peers. These included secretaries, office assistants and clerical workers, and information technology assistants. The wages for information technology assistants have already been adjusted.
Faith Lochmann, HR coordinator, reviewed pay scales from a variety of school districts in the state that included step increases for years of experience. The steps maxed out between 20 and 30 years with steps of 15 to 30 cents per year.
The starting wage for a USD 489 school secretary is $9.62 per hour, but the average starting wage for other Hays employers is $12.78. Comparable school districts pay an average of $11.08 and comparable cities pay an average starting wage of $13.45.
The plan that was presented to the board on Monday included a starting wage of $11 per hour for secretaries with 15 cent increases per year of service. The average wage increase would be 72 cents.
The wage increases would cost the district $24,000 annually.
The starting wage for a principal’s secretary would be $12.20 with 30 cent per year steps.
Central office clerical staff would start at a base pay of $12.20 with 25 cent increments.
Lochmann said the wage schedules could take into consideration experience at previous jobs.
Although the board had not intended to make changes this year to the nutrition staff’s pay, Lochmann presented information about a possible nutrition staff pay schedule.
Lochmann noted assistant cook positions had a very high turnover rate. She also noted some employees on the nutrition staff had 20 or more years with the district but were still making $11 to $12 per hour.
Board president Mike Walker said he thought the board needs to move forward with implementing the wage schedules.
“I appreciated the graphs,” Walker told Lochmann. “I felt this really puts it out there in black and white.”
Board member Luke Oborny said, “After someone worked for 20 years, I think they know the kids. They may not have a title, but they become experts. That’s tremendous.”
Oborny asked for a comparison of complete compensation packages.
Hays has higher total compensation than Ellis school district, but lower compensation than Liberal and Garden City school districts when compared to the total current compensation package.
Oborny asked Lochmann to bring back a comparison of total compensation with HaysMed and FHSU.
“Our employees are probably not going to move to Garden City or Liberal, but they might go to HaysMed,” he said.
The board did not vote on the issue Monday. They will consider it again at their meeting in October.
Enrollment
As of the official county day on Friday, USD 489 had a total enrollment of 3,014 students. That is down slightly from the total audited numbers of 3,044 in 2018-19. With the exception of this slight dip this year, enrollment in the district has been growing steadily since 2012-13. The numbers for 2019-20 will not be official until they are audited by the state.
No name for new center
The board failed to approved a new name for the former Oak Park Medical Complex, where the Early Childhood Connections program is now located. Superintendent Ron Wilson proposed the USD 489 Early Childhood Center. That failed on a vote of 3-1, with Sophia Rose Young voting against. Board members Mandy Fox, Greg Schwartz and Paul Adams were absent. The item was tabled for the next meeting.
The move-in day for the early childhood program at Munjor will be Thursday.
In other business, the board heard a report on the Kansas STAR program.