A pay raise given to Wolf Creek Public Schools (WCPS) senior administrators in April 2014 recently came under fire after an anonymous email was sent to Ponoka News questioning the decision.
“I have been reading the minutes of the Wolf Creek Public Schools Board meetings and have discovered some interesting things. Senior administrators were awarded a nearly 6 per cent raise in April, along with a self-invested pension plan. Support staff were awarded a 1 per cent raise this month,” read a section of the email.
Senior administrators were awarded a raise just shy of 6 per cent and supporting staff was awarded a 1 per cent pay raise last month.
WCMP board chair Trudy Bratland says the raises were made in a special meeting because personnel issues cannot be discussed in public meetings.
One year ago, WCPS reorganized its positions, “with respect to some central office positions and duties,” said Bratland.
As the financial aspects of some positions of WCPS had fallen slightly behind, said Bratland, “they weren’t being compensated the same as some other (similar) positions in other jurisdictions.”
During this time, the provincial government, school boards and the Alberta Teachers Association were battling over a tripartite framework agreement. Bratland says this is part of the reason WCPS was not a financially balanced with other jurisdictions.
“When the tripartite actually became a reality, our teachers were actually looked after. However, central office (superintendent) and support staff weren’t being looked at the same way,” said Bratland.
“Our central office staff weren’t being compensated the same as their colleagues in other jurisdictions,” she added.
Bratland stated WCPS also needs to remain competitive with other jurisdictions and that the division likes to give its staff the same treatment the teachers are given.
When non-teaching support staff wages were brought to attention, it was decided compensation for those positions had not fallen as far behind. “Compensation was quite well in correlation to their colleagues in central Alberta,” said Bratland.
When the board trustees discussed the raises, they used information from other school boards, gathered by secretary-treasurer Joe Henderson “so that we have a way to compare how we’re compensating our staff to other school boards,”
“If staff did leave, we would have to really consider the compensation anyways because people might not want to come in for what’s offered,” she added.