LAPEL — Frankton-Lapel Community Schools approved its teacher master contracts for the 2020-21 school year.
At the Nov. 12 monthly meeting, superintendent Bobby Fields gave details to the board, which included a $400 increase on the salary schedule for each teacher and that all teachers will be able to move up on the salary schedule for a $1,200 increase.
All non-certified personnel and administrators received a 1% raise.
Fields added, “We were expected to receive $450,000 in new funds (from the state) for the school year, but because of the COVID situation and losing about 50 students to home school it cost about $300,000. What we thought would be a really nice raise for everybody this year, turned out to be a very minimal raise — at least it’s a raise.”
“We didn’t lose money, but we lost from what we expected to get,” Fields said.
He also told the board he’s heard that when the General Assembly meets in January, there’s a possibility funding may be rescored on last year’s student enrollment, noting across the state most schools are down in enrollment.
Fields said it would give the school more money, and negotiations would re-open with the new money.
Though approved, there was some concern from a teacher representative.
Jeff Thurston, who was representing the teacher’s group, told Fields and the board afterward he did not agree with some of what Fields indicated in the contract, largely on the 1% raise for those outside the teachers’ association.
Fields told Thurston, “You don’t negotiate for the non-certified salary people or the administrators. That’s not part of the negotiations.”
Thurston said his concern was that if there is extra money, he would have wanted to negotiate it for teachers.
Transfer resolution
The board approved the transfer resolution to move funds from the budget’s Education Fund to the Operations Fund.
Fields told the board the Indiana Department of Education, a few years back, changed how funds were distributed from the General Fund to the Education Fund. Now, to make certain payments, schools must transfer money from one fund to another.
“A lot of the things we used to pay for out of the General Fund got moved to the Operations Fund,” Fields told the board. “There is not enough money in the operations to do that.”
To shore up operations, each year boards across the state must approve a resolution to move money from education to operations.
“The state is wanting schools to only transfer 15%. We have always been able to do that. We are always around 15%, sometimes it’s a little higher and sometimes it’s a little lower.”
Rainy-day fund
The board approved Superintendent Fields’ request to adopt a resolution to place any remaining 2020 appropriations, from various funds — determined by Fields at the end of the calendar year on Dec. 31, 2020 — into the school system’s Rainy Day Fund.
Originally adopted in 2001, the Rainy Day Fund is reserved for unexpected expenses.
Rhythm Camp
For the second straight year the board approved a Rhythm Camp founded by Lapel Elementary teacher Micah Walls.
The camp is meant to help students with coordination by dribbling a basketball to music. Campers later get a chance to show off their new skills during halftime at a high school varsity basketball game.