Bernie School Board freezes salaries

BERNIE, Mo.--In yet another sign of the economic times and the diminishing school funding, Bernie's Board of Education voted this week to refrain from granting teachers their anticipated annual raise in pay for the 2010-11 school year.

Certified teachers work with a salary schedule approved by the Board of Education that grants annual raises, referred to as "steps" on the schedule. Although those steps will not be awarded for the coming school year, the board did vote in favor of granting lateral movement on the pay schedule for those staff members who have completed sufficient college hours toward earning that lateral movement.

In other business of the board, Bernie senior Matt Blevins addressed board members, expressing his appreciation for the opportunity to serve as FFA state officer. Blevins currently serves as FFA vice president for the State of Missouri.

A committee has been organized, with board member Judy Zoll serving as chairperson, to recommend an evaluation tool that will serve to assess the performance of the school superintendent.

As is done at each monthly meeting, program evaluations were presented to the board. May's program evaluations included the Facilities and Grounds Program and the Special Services Program. Both evaluations met with the board's approval.

In other business, the board:

* elected to table the adoption of amendments to the Board Policy Manual until the June meeting of the Board of Education.

* adopted the current year's budget as a tentative budget for the 2010-11 school year in order to allow purchase order to commence.

* made one amendment to the 2010 budget and approved the district's monthly bills for payment.

During executive session, board members selected the Rutland Scholarship recipient. That award recipient's name will be released in the near future.

Also in executive session, a request from high school student, Traka Arnold, to graduate at semester in the coming school year, was approved pending completion of all graduation requirements for the Bernie district.