The School City of East Chicago Board of School Trustees on Aug. 12 discussed and ultimately tabled consideration of a revised employee handbook and a related board-compensation policy after trustees raised substantive concerns and asked the policy committee to reconvene.

Attorney Michael Snow told trustees that a July 1 change in state law altered how boards may set compensation. "That law says that compensation to a school board member cannot exceed 10% of the lowest salary of a school teacher that's employed by the corporation," Snow said. He said the statute permits either an annual salary (capped at 10% of the lowest teacher salary), a per‑diem (not to exceed the Indianapolis school board per‑diem), or both; ISBA attorneys told the district that practice varies and local boards must choose an approach that matches budget and community expectations.

Trustees raised several concerns in public comment and discussion: Trustee Smith asked that the board consult its financial advisor before deciding on per‑diems or salary figures and said the policy's current language (drawn from model policies) needed rewriting. Trustee Taylor pointed out table-of-contents inconsistencies and urged clearer language distinguishing applicants from employees when the handbook addresses background checks and reporting. Several trustees urged that the handbook remain a living document but asked for explicit page-number and formatting fixes and for committee review of sections that reference reporting lines (for example, who a superintendent reports to if policies require reporting to the superintendent).

Outcome and next steps: Trustees voted to table the employee handbook item and asked the policy committee to meet and incorporate requested edits, including clarification of applicant-versus-employee wording, table-of-contents pagination corrections and a review of board-compensation language. Trustee Gomez moved to table and Trustee Smith seconded; the motion passed unanimously. Administration will return a revised draft to the board; trustees indicated they expect further committee work before a final vote.

Why it matters: The handbook and compensation policy affect employee expectations, reporting lines and board transparency. Trustees emphasized that board policy and collective‑bargaining agreements supersede handbook language and that any changes will be subject to further board approval.