Published: June 17, 2008 02:19 am            

EISD ups coaching stipends

ELKHART — In hopes of improving the hiring and retention rates of its coaches, Elkhart Independent School District trustees approved with a 5-1 vote a plan to raise coaching stipends beginning in the 2008-09 school year.

Prior to approval of the plan Monday night, the board heard a presentation from recently hired district athletic director Tim Lewis, who explained the need for the increase in coaching stipends.

“We have three different coaching jobs to fill next year,” Lewis said. “And right now I am in a tug of war with another district over one coach/math teacher — they just have more to offer.

“With EISD’s current teacher salary, our stipends just aren’t that competitive,” he explained. “Increasing the stipends would help that.”

Lewis presented to the board four different “levels” of across-the-board stipend increases, ranging from a Level 1 stipend of $1,300 to a Level 4 stipend of about $2,000.

“I recommend the board go with the Level 3 ($1,700 stipend) or the Level 4,” Lewis said. “Level 3 would put us about with everyone else, and Level 4 would make us pretty competitive.”

While all board members agreed the increase in stipends was needed, board president John McKinney felt the decision needed to be delayed and included in upcoming budget talks.

The rest of the board disagreed with McKinney, stating that in waiting to make the decision, much-needed coaches could leave the district or applicants could be “lured away” by districts that have more to offer.

“I think we should do what Coach Lewis recommends,” trustee Stephen Ham said. “We hired him to put together a good coaching staff and we need to give him the tools he needs to put one together.”

With only an $8,000 difference in the 2008-09 budget increases on the Level 3 and Level 4 plans — $31,000 and $39,000 respectively — trustees proposed and approved the Level 4 stipend plan for EISD coaches.

The Level 4 plan includes: a $1,300 increase for high school head baseball, softball, track and basketball coaches; a $900 increase for high school assistant football, basketball, baseball, softball and track coaches; increases ranging from $200 to $1,000 for high school head tennis, golf, cross country and powerlifting coaches.

Junior high coaching stipends, which range from $900 to $1,000, were already very competitive, Lewis said, and did not need to be increased.

McKinney cast the lone opposing vote on the measure, with Ham and trustees David Mendiola, Paul Barnett, Dr. Tom Witte and Tina Teetz voting for the stipend. Trustee Sharon Davenport was not in attendance.

In other business, the board:

• APPROVED naming EISD superintendent Mike Moon as the “authorized official” for the Application Designation and Certification (ADC) form and the Consolidated Application;

• APPROVED the purchase of a new phone system from Computer Land of Tyler for $24,975.

The board originally approved a $76,500 proposal from Computer Land, but an agreement with the district’s current network infrastructure company, 3Com, allowed the price to be lowered.

• HIRED assistant high school principal Charles Harford III and teacher Joseph Thomas, and updated the contract of Larry Salsbury.

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Mary Rainwater may be reached via e-mail at mrainwater@palestineherald.com

        

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