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Cloverdale School Board approves base increase, stipends

Tuesday, November 12, 2019
By BRAND SELVIA, Staff Writer

CLOVERDALE -- Even with the snow continuing to accumulate, the Cloverdale School Board nonetheless addressed a few different items during its regular session Monday evening.

The board first approved a request by Superintendent Greg Linton for a base pay increase for administrators. He explained that the Governor’s Office had reduced contributions to teacher retirement funds from school districts by two percent.

Linton added that the base pay reflects savings for the school corporation given this change. On the other hand, the board granted another request by Linton to give stipends for full-time and part-time employees, approving both $500 and $250 stipends respectively.

In line with this, The board also approved a contractual agreement between them, the corporation and Cloverdale Education Association.

In other business, the board also approved a bid to install and update security camera systems at all buildings in the corporation, with an emphasis put on Cloverdale Middle School. Linton said a $147,736 bid from Five-Star Technology Solutions was accepted.

He added that $75,000 will be covered through a grant from the Indiana Department of Homeland Security (IDHS), while the rest will come out of the rainy day fund. Linton added that the upgrades were beneficial and greatly needed as a whole, and thanked Principal Sonny Stoltz for his efforts in securing the grant.

Board President Vivian Whitaker also announced that school will not be in session on Thursday, Nov. 19, which is Red for Ed Action Day. Teachers throughout the state will be traveling to Indianapolis on this day to advocate for school funding. It is also Organization Day for the Indiana General Assembly.

Linton said at least 42 percent of Cloverdale teachers had expressed interest in attending the rally so far. As such, he added that the corporation will use a make-up day to cover these events.

The board also recognized Cloverdale’s Students of the Month. Third-grader James Brown (unable to attend the meeting) represented Cloverdale Elementary School, fifth-grader Grace Lee was recognized by teaching assistants at Cloverdale Middle School and junior Lily Monnett was honored by Cloverdale High School.

The board also approved the following personnel report:

• Medical leave: Brad Sandy, first-grade teacher;

• Employment: Sam Brown, middle school homebound teacher; Kathy Salter, substitute teacher for Brad Sandy; and Jessica Herbert, elementary school instructional assistant;

• Coaching resignation: Chad Chrisman, high school varsity assistant basketball coach and seventh-grade boys basketball coach;

• Volunteers: Josh Myers, volunteer high school assistant wrestling coach; and Jake Kelly, volunteer high school assistant basketball coach.

The next regular meeting of the Cloverdale School Board is scheduled for Monday, Dec. 9 at 7 p.m. in the Arthur L. Johnson Administration Center near Cloverdale High School.

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  • Did I read this right? They gave the administrators a pay raise but all the teachers are getting is 500 dollars,or are they considering teachers as administrators and all other employees are getting the stipend .

    -- Posted by Putnam County Fan on Thu, Nov 14, 2019, at 4:46 AM

  • My problem with this is that the Superintendent learns of a 2% decrease in the required amount contributed to the teachers retirement fund in mid-year.

    1.) What is the total amount of $ involved here? Dollar amount not reported.

    2.) The Superintendent immediately requests a base pay increase for all administrators and the Board approves the request. How much discussion was spent on this ?

    3.) Why wasn't the amount put into the General Fund until it's impact can be evaluated ? Not all known repercussions from this action can be evaluated.

    4.) Why was this action not delayed until the next budget is set? A mid-year move between budgets is not a wise move by the Board or Superintendent.

    5.) Teacher stipends of $500 or $250 are a one-time increase and do not effect annual percentage increases. Administrators pay raises are perpetual(forever)and effect percentage increases exponentially because of the generally higher salaries administrators receive vs. teachers salaries.

    -- Posted by Lookout on Thu, Nov 14, 2019, at 11:10 AM

  • sounds like cloverdale is fixing to lose a few teachers to other corporations

    -- Posted by Putnam County Fan on Thu, Nov 14, 2019, at 8:18 PM

  • So the administrators needed raises? Guess maybe that was why they got rid of the nursing staff?

    -- Posted by mgn on Fri, Nov 15, 2019, at 8:33 AM
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