School Officials Raise Salaries for Lowest Paid Employees, Superintendent Discusses Heat Scare

officials agreed Thursday to raise salaries for some of the district's lowest-paid employees as part of ongoing changes to a system-wide compensation plan.

The changes will affect 230 employees this year and will cost the district $133,000, school officials said. The employees include 26 different positions such as bus drivers, accountants, paraprofessionals and custodians, some of whom make as low as $12,000 annually, Superintendent Philip Lanoue said.

“It really is our effort to raise the pay level of some of our lowest-paid individuals,” Lanoue said.

The decision to raise salaries came after a 2008 compensation study the district conducted to identify several necessary changes to staff salary schedules.

“This is another step of putting money into that to try and get people to an appropriate level,” School Board Vice Chair Denise Mewborn said.

In the Superintendent's report, Lanoue informed board members that athletic coaches and other staff this week are continuing to keep a close watch on excessive heat and the potential for dehydration at practices.

Two Clarke Central football players were taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure following a morning practice Wednesday, Lanoue said. Earlier in the week, two Georgia high school football players died following practices, and Atlanta area schools quickly responded barring practices from noon to 6 p.m.

Lanoue said coaches have rescheduled practices and will continue to monitor heat indexes and adhere to strict hydration regimes at practice. Outside of high school, administrators and coaches may also reconsider holding outside and playground activities if the heat is too extreme, he said.

“We're taking every precaution,” Lanoue said. “We really reiterated the fact we're not going to be putting our student athletes in danger – not just football, but everywhere.”

School officials also discussed changes to a contract with , the school district's alternative program for students with discipline problems. The changes include offering more special education services to students and a slight increase to the cost of each students' slot in the program, for a total cost of $1.4 million – about $60,000 more than the cost of the program last year.

School officials will vote to approve the amended contract at the board's regular monthly meeting Thursday, along with several other housekeeping items to include appointments to the district hearing officer and student civil rights grievance coordinator, field trip requests, grants and school equipment purchases.