South Putnam board approves teacher appreciation revision

Monday, November 16, 2020

The only non-regular item on its agenda, the South Putnam School Board approved a recent change in its Teacher Appreciation Grant (TAG) policy last Wednesday evening.

Superintendent Bruce Bernhardt explained that TAG is money determined based on test scores and then distributed to teachers. Normally given out in the first semester, he said funds would arrive sometime in December.

Originally, the TAG policy was a paragraph that stipulated that teachers who were rated “Highly Effective” would receive an award 25-percent higher than those rated “Effective.” Those below these ratings would not receive any awards.

This year, Bernhardt said, the state sent a template out to include definitions of what a teacher is and what a teacher’s license is. The revision also includes when the money has to be sent out, as well as stipulates that teachers have to be employed on Dec. 1 to be eligible.

In his report, Bernhardt reported that the South Putnam Classroom Teachers Association and the board had reached a tentative master contract agreement. He focused on two items that are different from previous ones.

The first reflected a change in the salary schedule back to a step process, where each teacher can move up in their salary each year. This is different from the previous system, in which salary increases were based on attaining a certain number of points.

The other edit to the contract was adding a compensation model, which Bernhardt said lays out how teachers move on the pay scale and identifies the salary schedule itself.

“Before we approve the teacher’s contract, (I want to) thank all the teachers for what they’ve done this past year,” board member Craig Newby said. “What they’ve done for our kids and our community is beyond measure. It’s just amazing and appreciated.”

“I know in August that we all agreed that, ‘We’re not gonna be here very long — we’ll be right back at where we were,’” Bernhardt added. “The teachers have absolutely just worked their heads off to make the educational process work for our kids ... it’s been way above the call of duty.”

The board held a special meeting Thursday afternoon to hear public comments and then ratify the contract.

In other business:

The board recognized South Putnam’s Students of the Month:

• Central Elementary: Jesse Hess

• Fillmore Elementary: Carson Cofer

• South Putnam Middle School: Lillian Emmerich

• South Putnam High School: Lyndsey Tyler

The board approved the following personnel report:

• Resignations:

-- Certified: Melissa Murphy - Central Elementary teacher (effective Nov. 24);

-- Classified: Samantha McClelland - MS/HS instructional assistant; Jack McCollister - MS/HS custodian (part time); Kimberly Cunningham - Central Elementary instructional assistant; and Sarah Campbell - Central Elementary food service;

-- ECA: Justin Curts - elementary boys’ basketball;

• New hires:

-- Classified: Erin Roach - Central Elementary instructional assistant;

-- ECA: Joseph Waters - MS/HS wrestling coach and Jimmy Beasley - elementary boys’ basketball.

Board member Anthony Heavin was not present, but listened in remotely.

The next regular meeting of the South Putnam School Board is scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 9 at 7 p.m. in the South Putnam MS/HS Learning Center.

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  • Are the meetings open to the public or had the Virus 🦠 shut them down ?

    -- Posted by jsears on Tue, Nov 17, 2020, at 12:46 PM
  • Meetings are open to the public and are broadcast online by going to the South Putnam website at the time of the meeting.

    -- Posted by newbyck on Wed, Nov 18, 2020, at 12:40 PM
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