District 279 School Board Approves Principals Agreement

A new contract agreement between the and its principals resulted in a pay increase and several new additions to the contract.

The school board approved the agreement with the Osseo Principals Association at the Jan. 24 meeting. The agreement passed by a 4-1 vote, with Chairperson Dean Henke voting nay and Director Laura Cottington absent.

One of the key points of the contract, according to a memo to the school board from Assistant Superintendent Rich Melvin, was the “creation of a new salary structure that emphasizes performance rather than longevity.” Under the new salary structure, performance and experience wage increases (“steps” and “lanes”) would be eliminated.

Even though the concept was part of the agreement, no implementation date was included in the contract. With no effective date, Henke voted against approving the contract.

“As the years on the board go, there has been things I’ve wanted to see happen with our contacts and the salary schedule is a piece I’m excited about,” Henke said, stating he wanted to see the salary schedule implemented. “I know we’re making progress, but I would like to see us make some faster progress.”

Director Teresa Lunt praised the upcoming salary structure that “eliminates steps and lanes and moves to a pay system that rewards principals based on their job performance.”

“The creation of this new structure is key in my support of this new contract,” Lunt said.

The school board went through a similar situation in November with the Osseo School District Management contract agreement.

The agreement between District 279 and the Osseo Principals Association, according to a memo provided to the school board, also includes:

• A 1 percent base salary increase for 2011-2012; 1 percent base salary increase for 2012-2013 and a one-time payment to employees who do not receive an experience increase.

• Addition of five work days per year for elementary assistant principals

• A new labor-management committee to “discuss principal reassignments that are not related to performance.”

The approved contract, with salary and benefits, is expected to cost the district about $346,000 over the next two years.

Additional details of the agreement can be found on the Osseo School District 279 website.