JACKSON SCHOOL BOARD APPROVES SALARY HIKE

JACKSON -- The Jackson School Board voted unanimously Monday to raise base pay for new teachers by two percent for the 1994-95 school year.

The school board also voted to add a 23rd pay step for veteran teachers in the district.

In addition, the board heard a report from Superintendent Wayne Maupin on pending legislation in Jefferson City.

Such legislationcould impact the amount of money the district receives from the state and the way the school district would be allowed to spend it.

The new salary schedule raises the starting salary for a new teachers from $19,400 to $19,800, and adds a 23rd step for teachers who had reached the highest pay step in the current salary schedule. The salary increment within each step was increased from $582 to $594.

Comparing the new salary schedule with the one in effect, Maupin said, "It is a schedule that we can financially support, even if there are some changes in legislation that might impact us through Senate Bill 380, or in essence, might reduce some of our receipts from the state. We still feel this is a schedule that we can financially support."

The salary schedule received strong support from teachers in the district.

Maupin reported to the board on the pending Senate Bill 676, which was originally intended to be a "clean-up" bill for Senate Bill 380.

He said, "It was supposed to clean up all of the errors that were in SB 380, however, that bill (SB 676) has grown to be a lot more than that, and is changing almost day-by-day.

"Right now, I can't tell you today how it will affect our school district. I do know it will have an impact on the district, but I do not know how much."

Maupin said SB 767 would not only affect how much state money the district receives but may also tell the district how it must spend that money. He said, "There is a pretty strong hint in that legislation (SB 676) that will tell us how we can spend that money. We're monitoring the progress of the bill and all of the changes that are being made to the bill. It seems every 2-3 days there is a major change in the bill. But the deadline for the legislature is 6 p.m., Friday, thank goodness. So they can't make too many changes after that."

Maupin reminded the board of the senior baccalaureate program on Sunday, May 22, at 7:30 p.m., in the Jackson High School Gym. The program is sponsored by the Jackson Ministerial Alliance.

Maupin also reported on the construction of the middle school. he said, "The walls are going up. We also checked with the contractor about getting some more bricklayers out there, but it seems there isn't an unemployed bricklayer in the region right now."