The School Board unanimously, but conditionally, approves a program that would add two higher levels of faculty members: lead teachers and mentor teachers.
By BARBARA BEHRENDT
Published February 25, 2004
INVERNESS - The School Board met the state's Monday deadline for adopting a new teacher pay hierarchy by approving a Career Ladder plan on Tuesday. But board members tied a fairly large condition to that approval.
The board approved the Career Ladder plan contingent on the state's funding the $2.1-million in extra costs tied to supplements, extra staff, training and other expenses. The overall plan, which outlines new duties, titles and pay supplements for teachers, would cost the district more than $4-million, including the salaries of full-time teachers already in the district.
School district and teachers union representatives created a plan that was tied completely to the state's willingness to fund the additional costs.
If the state sends only a portion of the cost, the School Board would have to re-evaluate whether to implement the plan or cut the numbers of higher-ranking teachers assigned to each school.
Under the Career Ladder, four categories of teachers would be created based on experience and performance.
Associate teachers would be those without a professional certificate and those who have been evaluated as low-performing. Professional teachers are those who are certified. Currently all Citrus teachers would be in one of those classifications.
The program would establish two higher levels of teacher: lead teachers and mentor teachers. Teachers would reach those levels based on higher educational qualifications, proven student performance gains, leadership activities and specialized training.
An extended work year, work with students who especially need a highly qualified teacher and work in leadership positions would all earn those higher ranking teachers pay supplements ranging from $4,000 to $7,000, plus roughly an additional $1,000 for the extra work days.
Board members expressed concern that the state would not provide the needed dollars to pay for the plan.
"There are a lot of questions out there about what will be funded" by the state, said Richard "Spike" Fitzpatrick, the board's attorney.
He reminded the board that when the state has set dollars aside for specific purposes in the past, they are often siphoned off for other educational programs.
The board approved the plan unanimously.
In other activity:
Only a handful of students have signed up to move from their overcrowded schools to less crowded schools under a voluntary rezoning plan school officials have been pitching to especially help packed Citrus Springs Middle and Citrus Springs Elementary.
While Citrus Springs Elementary has 173 more students than spaces, only eight students from a specified area the district is calling a "faucet zone" have agreed to move to Crystal River Primary, which is under capacity. Only 23 Citrus Springs Middle students have signed up to move to Crystal River Middle, even though Citrus Springs Middle has 145 more students than it is supposed to hold.
An existing faucet zone is in place to help crowded Forest Ridge Elementary. Twelve students from that school have agreed to move to Crystal River Primary.
The pilot voluntary zoning plan is set for a public hearing and approval by the School Board in March. Student services director Renna Jablonskis told the board that the faucet zones are areas in which current students can choose which school to attend.
But after the March public hearing, all new students moving into those zones would automatically go to the school which has room to accommodate them.
Permanently switching the attendance zones would come a couple of years down the road, after the district gathers information about how well the zones are working. Jablonskis noted that, with long-range school planning officials already beginning discussions about the need for the next new elementary school, they don't want to permanently switch zones immediately.
