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Members vote 6-1 to raise their salary to $36,000 a year, with a new member voting no.
By KELLY RYAN GILMER, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published December 11, 2002
LARGO -- Pinellas County School Board members on Tuesday decided to pay themselves a little more than $36,000 -- about $5,000 more than a beginning teacher.
School Board annual salaries used to be set by a formula in state statute, but this year board members have to set their own pay. Superintendent Howard Hinesley recommended that board members continue following the old formula, giving themselves a slight raise over last year.
The vote was 6-1 to follow Hinesley's recommendation. New board member Mary Russell, a teacher, voted against it. She argued that it takes some teachers 15 years to reach that salary.
"We haven't come up with a good plan to raise teacher salaries yet," Russell said. "This would be a chance for us to show employees in our district that we care."
She suggested tabling the discussion. But the board was required to make a decision.
Hinesley said he followed the old formula, which was recommended by the Florida School Boards Association, because it is a fair salary. Board member Jane Gallucci pointed out that she hadn't gotten a flurry of mail or calls from residents opposing it.
"We have had no outcry from the public. We have had no outcry from our staff," Gallucci said. "I think they appreciate the job we do."
Board members have committed to raising teacher salaries to the national average in the next several years. But they have not developed a precise plan for attaining that goal.
In other news, the School Board:
Approved an application by Bay Village Center for Education to open a charter school. Bay Village has previously won approval but couldn't open on time, so had to submit another application. Bay Village, a middle school, plans to open with 100 sixth-graders in fall 2003 and gradually grow to 300 students. The school will be located at Maximo Presbyterian Church on 58th Avenue S in St. Petersburg.
Denied an application by Dulaney Educational Institute to open a charter school that focused on hands-on training for middle school students. Superintendent Howard Hinesley's staff recommended the application be denied because the school lacked focus and a "fiscally sound" budget proposal, among other things. The group that wanted to open the school met through Greater Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church.
Heard concerns by the St. Petersburg branch of the NAACP that the Gibbs High School rebuilding project doesn't have enough minority workers. Board members agreed to study how other school districts encourage minority participation in construction projects. They said they would discuss creating a policy to address the issue.
Gave School Board attorney John Bowen permission to negotiate an agreement for the district to purchase more than 12 acres to build an alternative high school. The land, at 49th Street and 145th Avenue N, will cost $2.4-million. The vote allows Bowen and Hinesley to pay the sum, remove some trees and shrubs and erect a fence around the property.