[{"_1":2,"_88":-5,"_89":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6235660,"mediaKeyId","3397025-837a411af8e2a913d9105464d85dfb1b","parentId",3397025,"title","Board to consider pay-grade changes, market adjustments and handbook edits at June meeting","audioSeconds",974,"startMs",5514000,"endMs",6488000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=3397025-837a411af8e2a913d9105464d85dfb1b&start=5514&end=6488","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3397025-837a411af8e2a913d9105464d85dfb1b/thumbnail_5514000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6235660/Wisconsin/Board-to-consider-pay-grade-changes-market-adjustments-and-handbook-edits-at-June-meeting","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6235660-89551b44862be381deff5951189777b9/orig.mp4?Expires=1771048381&Signature=IMDdnsstm35KSW5EDqE6AqYaM08Y38O120dgxxlrL4uHNbNFjn3kzrqwJdYlyuTP0HlPB30D3H4Mq3ZopFPwPCXzewvBJDVhlVMCd1j5ShDUhUzkwQwM974UwTSiOktaAQBy7ZiHCM6xi5DY4nQfbFP~qmHFEg28SshXz2F9Tjef3zGitxN6wSz5~WlhRzByoMkgB0EKiiLiEu7NtMWtmoADrBssbb6~9yx2gcCxEQgJ3PlMV4rlcRjjKVs-JFOIQ~jiCmbWQZ4WDXWaja1UsrrC~ODEYAsvR3HQfvfx5ynA~Gf1gtPfLkUn48bOJbJ98ltHX3AFY4gmfCx4yFsDIg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Eau Claire Area School District, WI","date","2025-05-19T17:41:09Z","article","The Eau Claire Area School District presented a labor market review and proposed employee handbook clarifications to the Board of Education and asked the Board to reserve the items for action at its June meeting.

Executive Director Gold outlined a multi-pronged approach to salary review — cost-of-living adjustments tied to the Consumer Price Index (CPI), market adjustments from an external audit, level movement on pay schedules, and internal-audit checks on how new hires are placed on scales. Gold told the Board the most recent CPI figure used in the analysis was 3.4%.

Gold said the district contracts with an external firm (identified in the presentation as CBIS) to compare job descriptions and pay grades with market peers and to recommend reclassifications. That consultant’s recommendations flagged multiple positions the firm proposed moving “up one grade level.” Gold presented three administrative options for implementation: (1) move every affected position level-for-level as recommended, (2) move employees to the nearest step that provides an increase (a less costly option), or (3) delay action for a year; a fourth option discussed was to wait for the state budget to be finalized before acting.

Gold noted the district follows a five‑year review cycle and is again evaluating hourly staff in the current rotation. Board materials showed a district review of payroll and budget context, and Gold said the district tries to balance fiscal sustainability with competitive pay.

Board members pressed for clarity about timing and equity. One board member said the district’s hourly positions are particularly exposed to the local labor market and urged prompt action so the district can retain and recruit essential staff such as food-service workers and other hourly roles. Other board members emphasized the need to avoid internal inequity that can arise when new hires are placed above longer-serving employees; Gold described internal-audit steps to reduce “leapfrogging” on scales when new staff are hired.

Board members discussed the fiscal tradeoffs — for example, increasing staff or reducing class size versus adding targeted positions and market adjustments — and asked administrators to continue refining cost estimates. Gold offered alternatives (level-for-level placement, nearest-step increases, delaying implementation, or waiting for the state budget) and said the district would return with figures and a recommendation.

The Board did not vote on pay changes at the meeting. Trustees agreed administratively to place the labor-market recommendations and employee-handbook modifications on the agenda for the June Board meeting for formal Board action. The handbook items described minor clarifications (for example, consistent statutory citations, FTE clarifications and a bereavement policy update to explicitly include miscarriage-related bereavement). Gold said the handbook clarifications reflect current practice and are not substantive policy changes.

In discussion of handbook changes, a Board member asked how bias in mandatory reporting is identified and handled. Administrators said district staff are trained to make mandated reports when they encounter concern; the formal investigation and any determination of bias is handled by the child-protective agency (DHS) or the appropriate investigative body, and the district follows up with staff training and coordination as needed.

Administrators signaled they would bring a clear recommendation and associated cost estimates back to the Board in June, and several Board members said they favored acting at the June meeting rather than delaying until the state budget was finalized.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","ECASD Board of Education Meeting 5/19/2025","oneSentenceSummary","District HR presented a five-year labor market review and options for hourly pay adjustments; the board asked administrators to bring a decision to the June meeting, with several members urging prompt action for hourly employees.","taxTitle","Eau Claire Area School District, School Districts, Wisconsin","taxId",13046,"location","Wisconsin","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6235667,"Eau Claire district reports gains on student climate survey after school-level changes",3780,1698000,5478000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3397025-837a411af8e2a913d9105464d85dfb1b&start=1698&end=5478","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3397025-837a411af8e2a913d9105464d85dfb1b/thumbnail_1698000.jpg","/articles/6235667/Wisconsin/Eau-Claire-district-reports-gains-on-student-climate-survey-after-school-level-changes","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6235667-2f9570a82a792c02b4bad7f873ff371c/orig.mp4?Expires=1771048381&Signature=fJ5N9k08X2Q~kCYdvmpRblQtL7aoVj4SETNvbwmueoIAbCAFUYA9JSlzcxKvXqNziN7YcDNZ5fnLGD2Sc7rfN6yg-RGcO60SvMV4WIwiEuUuDKDK~VdQbhM8f-Lj5hNjgerDErwBUKqvbNIUL72BBicNEQSqf7mlQrdkWm6mzUmixerxAMrmp3rTEGXYMuR8e1N8oR5mzcv~bVy6Nf632ZJYf2ZiWGt11aRvkssd5zpASfIlrjnobqnm1z4zzh~waRI0L3y2zm8M2GSh-4b0mYr0Waq3r~FyUZQMPlG4NfE22yKl0dkuckw5jaJRnRVIAhg6VkHP093fHHQH33yawA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Eau Claire Area School District reported measurable improvements on its spring student climate survey after district and building-level efforts to strengthen social and emotional learning.

Executive Director Mandy Van Fleet told the Board of Education that the district’s supportive learning environment framework and a set of continuous-improvement strategies corresponded with gains in March survey responses, and that a universal SEL screener (SABERS) was introduced this year to give schools additional, actionable data.

The report matters because Board policy R4 (citizen of a diverse community) uses student-climate measures as a key performance indicator, and the district said improvements — especially among historically marginalized students — can signal better daily experiences and long-term outcomes.

Van Fleet said district results show “encouraging gains” after a disappointing fall report, and she described district-level steps including embedding SEL competencies into curriculum, rolling out a universal SEL screener (SABERS — social, academic, emotional behavior risk screener), and aligning professional learning for adult practices across schools. She noted the SABERS implementation this year could produce additional monitoring data in future reports.

At the school level, Luke Stordahl, principal of Northwoods Elementary, and Grace Hallis, a second-grade teacher at Northwoods, described specific interventions tied to a building goal of improving the student perception that “students treat each other well.” Stordahl said the building identified unstructured times such as recess and transitions as frequent sites of conflict and prioritized active adult supervision and problem‑solving supports at those times.

“We brought everybody in and reset what that looks like,” Stordahl said, describing efforts to train staff to be active facilitators at recess rather than passive supervisors.

Hallis described a student-led recognition program called “Honor’s kindness catchers,” in which a single student each day wears a badge and identifies peers for kind acts. Students write the recipient’s name and the kind act on a ticket that is posted in a special office mailbox so both receiver and giver experience recognition. “Having the kids recognize each other as kindness and positive actions… makes a difference,” Hallis said.

Northwoods also piloted a change for its two fifth-grade sections: instead of a single large SEL meeting, staff reworked the master schedule to create a three-day-per-week, 20-minute advisory in which the grade was divided into six groups of roughly 10 students led by different staff (a fifth-grade teacher, the PE teacher and the librarian). Stordahl said teachers and students reported the small-group advisories were “one of their highlights” and helped students connect with peers.

On the climate numbers Van Fleet presented, the district said middle‑school respondents who said students “respect one another” rose from 55% to 58%; high school responses improved by about 3 percentage points; and the district reported roughly a 15 percentage‑point jump on at least one respect-related measure for high‑school students of color. The district also said elementary responses were up: 72.2% of elementary students reported that classmates treat each other well (an increase the district reported as about 7 percentage points), and students of color showed similar gains.

Van Fleet and Stordahl emphasized that many of the district’s actions focus on adult behaviors: professional learning, PBIS supports, embedding SEL into curriculum units and allocating additional pupil‑services staff. Van Fleet cautioned that the supportive learning environment is a new district-wide framework and that turning a framework into durable, measurable change requires multi-year work, additional measures and time to develop aligned professional learning and monitoring systems.

Board members asked about specific issues raised by community members and staff. Board member Dr. Farrar asked how the district is addressing the early appearance of racial slurs among elementary students and whether curriculum and professional development explicitly address race and slurs. Van Fleet and Christy Watkinson, director of student services, said the district expects staff to address disrespectful language under existing harassment and discipline protocols and that curriculum vendors have added bullying-and-harassment modules to their resources for next year. Watkinson said the district will work with elementary principals to determine whether additional supports are needed.

Board members also asked about the capacity of the student climate survey itself and what other data the district will use. Van Fleet and other staff said the district is adding and aligning measures (including SABERS and other discipline and PBIS fidelity data) and is considering carefully any changes to survey wording so that longitudinal comparisons remain meaningful.

The presentation concluded with district leaders saying the reported improvements reflect “intentional continuous improvement anchored in changing adult practices,” and that the district will continue to monitor results and refine supports and data sources going forward.","District leaders told the Eau Claire Area Board of Education that a new supportive-learning-environment framework, school-level interventions at Northwoods Elementary and a universal social-emotional screener corresponded with improvements on spring student-climate measures, particularly among students of color.","actionData","errors"]

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Board to consider pay-grade changes, market adjustments and handbook edits at June meeting

Eau Claire district reports gains on student climate survey after school-level changes