Elmbrook sets administrative salaries

The Elmbrook School Board on Tuesday unanimously approved a salary and benefits compensation package increase of 0.45 percent for district administrators for the 2012-13 school year.

The increase does not affect the district's bottom line because it is being funded by ending the retirement fund component of the district's DAT Retirement Plan that expires June 30.

Being competitive

Superintendent Matt Gibson and Assistant Superintendent for Finance Keith Brightman said the district decided to shift the compensation into salary in order to allow the district to be more competitive.

Gibson said, "The salary increases are larger than they would otherwise be to partially offset reductions in the yet-to-be-completed employee retirement plan and to progress toward the objective of getting our administrative salaries into the upper quartile" of peers in comparable districts. He noted that teacher salaries are now near or at the top of their peer groups.

Brightman said two groups are looked at as peer comparables.

"We compare our compensation to districts in Waukesha County and to other high-performing districts like those in Whitefish Bay and Mequon," Brightman said. "So we have two ways of looking at this. We want to be as competitive as possible."

Elmbrook's budget assumptions for 2013 include a 4 percent increase in the health insurance premium, a 5 percent increase in dental insurance premium and a salary authority of $144,950 available for salary distribution. That amount would be divided into $59,950 across the board to high performers or $85,000 to individuals based on the objectives of performance, comparable external compensation, internal comparisons and added ongoing responsibilities.

Anticipating change

In response to a board question regarding whether salaries will continue to be judged on the basis of peer compensation rather than performance, Gibson noted that a new day is coming.

"We have tried to look at salaries from the standpoint of comparison inside and outside the district," he said. "In some cases, we took into consideration that some have take on added responsibilities, so some of the increase is based on aligning comparable duties and part is on high performance and additional duties.

"In the future, there will be a more sophisticated way to evaluate and compensate teachers and administrators as we will learn from the state," he said.

In an address to a statewide education conference earlier this month, Gov. Scott Walker noted impending legislation that would provide a new framework for assessing and compensating educators.

Board members were complimentary of Elmbrook's administrative work.

"I have gained a greater amount of appreciation for all the work that the administrative team does," Board President Tom Gehl said. "It is not easy to maintain quality in the face of economic realities.

"Ultimately, it is up to the community to decide how we are doing."

Approved salaries for one-year contracts

Approved salary recommendations for two-year contracts