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Board approves employment recommendations, board members question pay step for school psychologist
Summary
The board approved the personnel recommendations on the consent agenda, including a hire for a school psychologist at the highest MA/step rate; members asked why psychologists are placed on the teacher salary grid and noted statewide shortages.
The Lakeville Area Schools Board approved the employment recommendations included on the consent agenda, which among other hires included a school psychologist and a special education teacher listed at the MA 60, step 16 rate.
Board members asked staff to clarify why school psychologists are placed on the teacher salary grid and why the hire was listed at the top step and education metric. One director noted that school psychologists are difficult to recruit and that districts nationwide are experiencing shortages; the director said districts sometimes contract privately for psychologist services and that hiring in‑district can be less costly than paying for outside contractual services.
Board members and staff also noted that school psychologists in this district are represented by EML and therefore fall under the district salary schedule; that representation was cited as constraining how staff are assigned to the teacher salary grid. A board member asked whether psychologists should be placed on a separate pay grid given their specialized credentials and marketplace scarcity.
The board moved and seconded the employment recommendations and approved them by voice vote. The motion covered the recommended hires in the personnel packet, including the pending appointment of Christine McDonald as Highview Elementary principal (her start is “pending action from the board this evening,” as announced earlier in good‑news remarks and included in the packet).
