Delano Herald Journal

Serving the communities of Delano, Loretto, Montrose, MN, and the surrounding area

HLWW teachers settle contract



The 1999-2001 contract for Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted
teachers was ratified by the school board Tuesday, and representatives from
the teachers’ union signed it at the school board meeting.

Tuesday was the deadline for settlements before a penalty
would have been imposed on the district by the state.

In the base year of 1998-99, total dollars for the salary
schedule alone were $2,364,738 and the “total package” amount
was $3,130,913.

The total package includes base salary plus pay for extracurricular,
sixth class, and department head assignments; annuity matches, retirement
plans, FICA (social security), and insurance coverage costs.

Total salary schedule dollars went to $2,498,698 for 1999-2000,
a 5.6 percent increase.

The total package dollar amount increased to $3,299,357.
Because the insurance portion increase was at a lower rate than the salaries,
the total package percentage comes out at 5.38 percent, Supt. Riley Hoheisel
explained.

Percentage increases in the second year of the contract,
2000-2001, were 6.9 percent on salary, and 7.1 percent on the total package.

Teacher representatives said that these changes bring HLWW
from the bottom end of area salary schedules to about average.

This should make it easier for the district to attract
and retain quality teachers, they said.

For example, a beginning teacher with a bachelor’s degree
would start at $26,500 for this school year, and that would change to a
starting salary of $27,100 next year.

A beginning teacher with a masters’ degree would start
at $29,000 this year and $29,100 next year.

Many districts are adding more staff to help with the paper
work for graduation standards testing, Humphrey Elementary Principal Dean
Wessman told the school board.

Wessman said that the testing has become a big deal, and
keeping track of all the tests students need to take has become a big issue.

Since he is responsible for the paper work as graduation
standards technician, as well as curriculum director and principal of Humphrey
Elementary, Wessman explained that his time is stretched very thin.

It has gotten so bad that he is using a visual cue for
what issues he will discuss. When he wears a tie, he is a principal, but
if he doesn’t have one on he will discuss grad standards or curriculum,
he said.

“I can’t stay focused on curriculum and grad standards,
when I’m being a principal,” said Wessman.

Pending board approval, Julie Stifter, who works in the
Winsted Elementary office, can spend time working on the grad standards,
in order to take some of the pressure off Wessman, said HLWW Superintendent
Riley Hoheisel.

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