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The school board approved bonds and maintenance work for the middle schools and debated but did not approve an increase to the school board salary.
School Board Salary
For the second time the school board discussed increasing their board salary, but couldn’t come to a consensus after a failed vote. The item was tabled and will be taken up again at the next meeting.
- Current rate: Current board stipends are $5,100 for board members and $5,800 for the board chair per year. The last increase came in 2022 and before than in 2019. There were no increases in 2018, 2020, 2021, or 2023.
- Comparison: For comparison, board members were provided with board salaries for the eight other members of the ISD 917 collaborative district. Those salaries ranged from a low of $100 for Randolph to a high of $9,600 for Bloomington. West St. Paul City Council recently increased their salaries to $10,400 for Council and $12,500 for mayor.
- Vote: Byron Schwab proposed a 5% raise of $250, for a total additional cost of $1,750. The motion failed 1-6.
- Discussion: Debate centered on the optics of giving themselves a raise coupled with being below the board policy fund balance and most contracts getting a 3% raise. Most board members said they supported a raise to make the position more accessible and would support it if they weren’t on the board, but had a hard time voting to give it to themselves.
- Tabled: They ultimately opted to table the discussion and bring it up again at the next meeting. That motion passed 6-1, with Randi Walz voting no.
Maintenance: Air Quality & Bonds
The school board approved $15 million in bonds for HVAC systems updates at Friendly Hills and Heritage middle schools. They also approved contracts for the first phase of both projects.
- Due to the school’s high bond rating and recent economic news, the bonds came in better than expected with a 3.29% interest rate (expected 4.24%), which will save $1.7 million over the life of the bonds.
- The construction bids came in at $3.5 million for Friendly Hills and $3.8 million for Heritage. The work on phase one will begin next summer. The project was broken into two phases to ensure it could be completed during the summer and not impact the school year.
- The projects were first proposed back in June. Both bids and the bond were approved unanimously.
Other Items on the Agenda
- New principal: Superintendent Peter Olson-Skog introduced the new principal of Heritage, Heidi Koury. “I have been a member of this community almost my entire life,” said Koury. “This role feels truly like coming home.”
- Board goals: The board gave a mid-year update on their 2024 goals that were adopted in March.
- Superintendent evaluation: The board evaluated Superintendent Olson-Skog, sharing the results with him in a closed session in June. The results were also shared with the public at a special meeting in July (per state law), but were shared again during the televised meeting for transparency. They gave Olson-Skog high marks in all areas.
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