VBPS board considers more raises for non-union salary slots

Editor Emeritus
At Monday’s meeting of the Van Buren Public Schools Board of Education, the board heard school superintendent Pete Kudlak explain why he was asking board members to give some more raises to salaried workers who do not belong to unions. They also received large raises last spring.
“Upon the resignation of Jeff Moore and the hiring of Jill Marvaso, we realized that our directors are paid at a much lower rate than county-wide counterparts,” Kudlak wrote in a memo to the board.
“I knew they were low and we raised them up more than others this past spring with the intention to do the same next year.
“However, I underestimated how low they were. We had to bring Jill in at $142,000 to get her and this would have been the same with the others in the pool.
“I am now coming to ask for raises for the other directors,” he said.
He noted non-affiliated workers are eligible for increases on a yearly basis pending their individual performance and the district financial conditions.
At the June 9 meeting, the custodial supervisor pay for Bette LaDouceur went to $72,000 and payroll specialist pay for Trena Plovie went to $70,000, because they were said to be out of line. All the directors also were said to be out of line, and Julien Frazier and Priya Nayak got raises to $140,000 and John Leroy, Jeff Moore, and James Williams got raises to $134,000. Everyone else on the list got a raise of $1,750 except for the hourly workers.
The new non-union raises, which will be voted on at the Oct. 27 meeting, are $146,000 to James Williams and John Leroy and $150,000 to Julien Frazier and Priya Nayak, as well as the $142,000 to hire Jill Marvaso.
Kudlak said he was shocked when he found out how low the positions were paid in Van Buren Schools compared to other nearby districts in both Wayne and Washtenaw counties.
He said he doesn’t want employees to switch districts to get the proper pay before their retirements. He said Moore did not leave his job because of compensation.
In other business at Monday’s meeting, the board:
• Heard Edgemont Elementary School principal Laura Maher and Owen Intermediate School principal Nadine Dufrane, along with their co-workers, give fall building presentations. Supt. Kudlak asks building leaders to present one of their school improvement initiatives that they will be working on this year. In the spring, the building leaders will follow up with how they were able to accomplish their school improvement goals or the changes that they had to make to reach their goals;
• Approved the resignation of Karlee Porcaro, a teacher at Owen Intermediate School for less than a year, as of Sept. 26;
• Approved the employment of Donna Novack as a CI teacher at Belleville High School as of Oct. 6;
• Approved the termination of bus driver Martez Freeman as of Sept. 29 after one year of service; approved the resignations of Devin Sharp as custodian as of Sept. 26 after two years of service; the resignation of Michael Wakefield in maintenance after four years of service; and the resignation of Renatta Swasey as a paraprofessional at McBride as of Oct. 21 after less than one year of service;
• Approved the employment of custodians Dalton Lee and Robert LaGraff as of Sept. 29; the employment of custodian Vicki Allen as of Sept. 30; the employment of bus driver trainee Mandi Lajiness as of Sept. 30; and paraprofessionals Dasia Jackson at Edgemont and Alexandrea Lampinen at Tyler, both as of Oct. 2;
• Heard financial director Nayak announce the food service department got a $42,000 grant to buy equipment for the elementary schools or McBride.
• Heard Leroy announce free flu shots were given to staff members at the health clinic. He said the staff is signing up for options for their health insurance, including insurance for their pets;
• Heard Williams say the student health clinic at Belleville High School is almost done and the University of Michigan will be preparing to set up there. He said it should be fully functional by the end of the year. He said Savage Elementary upgrading is wrapping up; and
• Heard board trustee David Shall say when principals are giving their reports, he would like to see reading and math scores and progress year over year. He also would like to see attendance, discipline, and health and safety reports as part of the presentations.
A townhall meeting was held at 6 p.m., before the 7 p.m. school board meeting. About a dozen people attended the session set up to answer questions on the upcoming ballot proposal for a $77 million bond. Seven of those present worked for the district.