Stipends, not raises, as district girds for challenges

Port Washington-Saukville School District teachers will not receive salary increases this year but instead be paid stipends under an agreement that signals the uncertainty looming over the district’s financial future. 

“I think it’s more a matter of being prudent rather than nervous about the future,” Director of Business Services Jim Froemming said. “We value our employees, but increasing (salaries) at this time could have  caused greater disruptions in the near future.”

The compensation agreement, which is unusual for a district that has touted its efforts to increase teacher salaries, proved controversial among school board members but was approved last week. 

And while members of the Port Washington-Saukville Education Association, the union that represents teachers, voted unanimously to approve the agreement, the vote does not reflect the concern teachers have for what is essentially a salary freeze, a union official said. 

“To say that this package is not ideal would be the understatement of the decade,” Nathan Ugoretz, chairman of the PWSEA Negotiations Committee, said in an interview this week. 

The stipends, which range from $300 to $1,100 per teacher based on experience and are to be paid in lump sums this month, allow the district to provide additional compensation for educators who are working hard during the pandemic to provide both in-person and online instruction without adding $189,562 to its salary base, a cost that would then be built into future budgets.

The $189,562 the district will pay in stipends is the amount by which it can increase teacher pay under Wisconsin’s Act 10 and is based on the Consumer Price 

Index.

“If we add that money to base salaries, we’re adding it to our structural deficit, yet we need to validate the great job teachers are doing,” Froemming said. “At least it (a stipend) is a positive thing we can be doing now, and I’m looking for positive things we can do now without adding to our ongoing costs.”

The compensation agreement, administrators said, gives the district flexibility to deal with financial challenges as it waits to see how state education funding fares in a new biennial budget and at a time when declining enrollment threatens to erode the amount of state aid the district receives.

But some school board members said teachers are getting the raw end of the deal.

“Is there anything else we could do?” asked board member Yvonne Klotz, a retired teacher. “In the end, a stipend hurts teachers. Over years they could be losing thousands of dollars.

“Teachers are working extremely hard. I know everyone is, but I’m struggling with a stipend.”

Board member Aaron Paulin, a teacher in the West Bend School District, said, “The stipend is a bitter pill to swallow,” adding “It’s a sad aye,” when voting in favor of the compensation package.

Froemming said, “I think everyone is struggling with a stipend, but we’re charged with looking out for the long-term welfare of the district.”

Board member Matthew Uselding, who said he favors a salary increase for teachers rather than stipends, was the only board member to vote no on two motions — one not to increase salaries and another to pay stipends.

Uselding said if the district is not going to increase salaries, he support stipends “but personally I don’t believe it’s enough. I think we should consider another stipend in the spring.”

Ugoretz said the union accepted the stipends instead of salary increases in recognition of the challenges facing the district and to help prevent more changes forced by financial shortfalls that could affect the quality of education, including teacher layoffs.

“We understand there are some financial difficulties, and ensuring staff members retain their jobs is really important to us” he said.  “We know, of course, that not all teachers would lose their jobs, but if some do that means class sizes would increase, and that’s not good for anyone.

“I do have faith the board, with some guidance from the administration, will work toward a more desirable financial package in the future.”

This is the first year, at least in recent history, that the district paid all teachers stipends instead of giving them salary increases. Last year, all teachers received raises with the exception of 28 of them at the top of the pay scale who received stipends.

The board also approved stipends for custodians, a 2% pay increase for food service employees and a 1% increase for hourly workers, which include such employees as lunchroom supervisors, student summer workers and aquatic center employees.

In addition, as districts throughout the country grapple with an increased demand for, and a shortage of, substitute teachers, the board approved increasing their daily pay from $109.94 to $115 and from $160.94 to $190 for long-term subs.