Platte County R-3 school district ‘holds the line’ on teacher salaries

School board also hears financial report from superintendent.

Lee Stubbs
Citizen Editor

The Platte County R-3 School District says it is “holding the line” when it comes to teacher and staff salaries and benefits. That’s the phrase R-3 officials used to describe the Board of Education’s decision last week to accept R-3 Superintendent Dr. Mike Reik’s recommendations for the upcoming school year.

For the second year in a row, the teaching staff at Platte County R-3 will not see an increase in the base salary schedule, nor will there be any movement allowed for years of service on this schedule. The base salary will remain at $34,500 per year. The district will compensate teachers who move horizontally — acquire further education hours — accordingly.

“Last year was the first time in all my years at Platte County that we did not increase base salary,” said Reik, who served as a teacher and administrator for several years prior to taking over the superintendent’s post in 2009. “Now, this year, for the first time, we will not increase salaries based on years of experience. At the same time, though, we are happy that we are not being forced to cut positions and are still able to offer paid health care.”

The Board of Education approved Reik’s recommendation to pay 100 percent of employee health insurance base plan premiums, which will increase this year from $4,548 per person to $4,944.

The R-3 Board also approved an adjustment designed to minimize the impact of the mandated contribution increase for the state retirement system. For certified staff, this will be 0.5 percent and for classified staff the percentage is 0.13 percent.

“Even with this adjustment our employees will still see a slight reduction in take home pay,” Reik said. “Essentially, all employees are making a personal sacrifice to protect the fiscal health of the district.”

Prior to its salary/benefits vote, the Board heard a report on Reik from the just-completed 2009-10 budget year, who reminded the Board and those in attendance of the challenges facing public school districts across the area, state and nation over the past fiscal year.

He said unofficial numbers indicate that operating fund reserve balances dropped from 23.5 percent of the total operating budget to 18 percent. In addition, the district capital fund balance dropped from $2.1 to $1.9 million.