Kenosha Unified proposes targeted summer-school pay increases, program continuity for 2025

The board heard a presentation on the proposed 2025 summer-school program. Administrators said the curricular and instructional components will largely remain the same, including high-school credit-recovery programming. They noted adjustments may be needed if construction tied to a potential referendum disrupts school buildings used for summer programs.

Following a staffing shortage last year, the district proposed indexing summer hourly teacher pay to the equivalent starting teacher hourly rate so summer wages will rise alongside year-round compensation. The district previously raised the summer teacher rate from $25 to $33 per hour; under the proposal the rate would move to $34 to reflect the current starting-equivalent rate and be automatically adjusted in future years as salaries change.

Staff also proposed raising summer pay for special-education assistants and summer clerks. The proposal would raise summer clerk pay to an hourly rate equivalent to a starting ESP ($17.80) and special-education assistant summer pay to $20.18, with the presentation noting these adjustments would fit within the district’s existing summer-school budget (the total budget request would not increase). The presenters said the district has already absorbed teacher summer-pay increases within the prior budget and expects the same for these adjustments.

Board members asked about overlap between summer-school and community recreation programming; staff said some students can participate in both when schedules allow. Questions were raised about cost impacts and staff said the proposed pay changes would remain within the budget used last year and would not require additional appropriation in the current request.