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School district directors get extra bump in pay [Albuquerque Journal, N.M. :: ](Albuquerque Journal (NM) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) July 05--Four Rio Rancho school district directors are getting pay raises of between 6.1 percent and 10.5 percent, rather than the 3 percent most other employees are getting. The extra bump in pay is meant to compensate the employees for extra work and extra hours they have had to take on with increased testing and teacher evaluations, said Kim Vesely, spokeswoman for Rio Rancho Public Schools. The maintenance director is getting a 6.1 percent raise because he must oversee the district's added building space, she said. She said a small number of staff are also seeing an additional increase. "This is an ongoing process where we periodically look at salaries to make sure employees are being compensated correctly," Vesely said. "It's good business practice." She said the review happened to occur at the same time annual raises were being put in place. The higher raises go to: --Director of maintenance Patrick Dryer, who will see a 6.1 percent increase when his salary goes from $71,205 to $75,573. --Paul Lockhart, director of research, assessment, data analysis and accountability, gets a 6.8 percent bump, from $70,775 to $75,573. --Karen Boulanger, director of educational technology, will see a 6.3 percent raise, from $71,084 to $75,573. --Amy Eveleth, director of human resources, gets the largest increase at 10.5 percent, with her salary going from $72,168 to $79,776. None of the directors could be reached for comment Thursday because the district office was closed for the July Fourth holiday. Vesely said among the directors' added duties are teacher evaluations and preparation for the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, a required statewide test students will take online in the coming school year. Richard Bruce, chief operations officer, said the responsibilities of the maintenance position "has grown in size and complexity with the continued year-round use of our 21 facilities." "As you can see, Rio Rancho Public Schools is trying to be good stewards of the taxpayer's money by not always hiring more staff to accomplish added responsibilities," Bruce said. "...we do insist on treating our staff as fairly and equitably as possible even during times of tight financial constraints and limited funding." Raises, Vesely said, are determined by experience, education, job duties and sometimes the number of people supervised. Teachers, she said, have a state-mandated mechanism in place to increase their salary when their duties and education increase. "There is no mechanism to cover these employees," she said. "That's why we have this process in place. It helps us retain and attract quality employees." ___ (c)2014 the Albuquerque Journal (Albuquerque, N.M.) Visit the Albuquerque Journal (Albuquerque, N.M.) at www.abqjournal.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |