D49 teachers, with the leadership of Sandcreek High School’s Math Department Chair, have been pushing for better pay scales within the district, even if they are not on par with other school districts. Melissa has put in the effort to work out the numbers to present to the the district.
Superintendent Peter Hilts expressed his reluctance and publicly criticized former and current board members (Ivy Liu, Debbie Schmidt, and Jamilynn D’avola) for proposing reallocating funds to increase teacher salaries. To eliminate waste, successful organizations regularly evaluate budgets and expenses. It’s crucial for D49 to establish a successful trajectory.
Within the timeframe of May 2022 to Jun 2023, D49 saw 8 principals leave, including the principals of the top 3 elementary schools. Moreover, we saw departures of 7 assistant principals, 5 long time central office directors, and a complete turnover of all 4 Zone/Assistant Superintendents.
While culture and climate are important for retaining good teaching staff, increasing pay is a positive initial action to demonstrate our recognition of teachers’ worth.
In May 2023, the superintendent’s annual salary was increased by $80K to $257K plus benefits.
In addition to unrestricted access to district funds, the board lawyer received a substantial raise up to 40% in addition to a whopping $11,000 monthly retainer. Miller made well over a quarter of a million in 2023. No other school board have a lawyer sit at board meetings that costs $2-4K/meeting.
Yet the superintendent becomes upset when asked to allocate more funds from the budget to raise salaries for valuable teachers?
Melissa Mayfield’s public forum speech on Apr 11, 2024, was cut short to two minutes by Board President Lori Thompson and Peter Hilts. They had the discretion to give teachers additional time to express their concerns but chose not to.
“Good Afternoon School Board Members,
My name is Melissa Mayfield and I have served D49 for the last 16 years in a variety of roles including being an active community member, parent, teacher, and department chair.
First, I want to thank the VCT subcommittee and everyone that worked diligently to make a new pay schedule. I am very appreciative of the pay increase that has been proposed. As a department chair, I also value a clear and concise pay schedule that is competitive. That will make hiring a lot easier.
With that being said, I would like to address a concern that many teachers have. As I understand the pay schedule and how placement works, I will be placed at step 19, while starting my 22nd year teaching. This means that any teacher I find to hire with 20 or 21 years’ experience will be making more than me next year and they will also receive a 5k bonus. I have heard anecdotal data from a variety of teachers that they too will be slid back so that their years in education will not match their step. I know that there is a survey out there compiling results and I hope that someone plans on showing that to you and district administration.
Here is my issue, if we are not giving current teachers steps for years, but are giving new teachers steps for years, there is a huge equality discrepancy which is impacting the culture of D49. Trust me, I understand the problem. I am the Math Department Chair at Sand Creek. Currently we are hiring 4 teachers for the 24/25 school year. Without a competitive pay schedule hiring because a very difficult task. The problem is the cost that this has to the current staff members. Yes, I am currently hiring 4, but I am afraid that if this pay schedule is approved that that number will increase.
The perception by many current staff members is that they are not valued for their years of dedication to D49. Does D49 value their current employees? The current pay proposal seems to show us that new teachers and their years of experience are valued more than the years we put in D49. Please vote NO on the proposal and show your current teaching staff that you value the years they have put in D49.
Thank you for listening,
Melissa Mayfield”