Homewood SD 153 approves staff changes: hires, MOUs and coach stipends
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Summary
The board approved several personnel items May 5: hiring four employees (custodian, PE teacher, PE assistant, psychologist), extra coach compensation not to exceed $7,000, a memorandum giving two extra vacation days to 12-month nonadministrative staff, and an MOU adjusting timing of a retiring employee's compensation.
The Homewood School District 153 board approved multiple personnel and compensation items at its May 5 meeting, including several hires, extra stipends for coaches and memoranda of understanding affecting staff pay and vacation days.
The board authorized hiring Michael Haywood as a custodian (effective April 24, 2025) and approved hires for Larry Chrisler (PE teacher at Churchill), Janet Calderonaro (PE assistant at James Hart) and Heather Mann McGoldrick (psychologist at Willow) with August 18, 2025 start dates, contingent on satisfactory background checks and qualifications.
The board approved extra compensation for coaches in an amount not to exceed $7,000, citing added hours due to later game times and bus delays. "As a result of buses running late and activities starting later, our coaches are spending hours, multiple hours additional in the season," a district speaker said.
Separately, the board approved a memorandum of understanding to add two additional vacation days for 12-month nonadministrative staff (custodians, tech staff, building secretaries and district office 12-month staff) as a form of compensation given financial constraints. The board also approved an MOU specific to a retiring employee to shift the timing of a payroll payment; the administration described it as correcting a payroll error so the employee will receive entitled compensation on a different schedule.
Why it matters: The hires address staffing needs noted by the district (including a school psychologist at Willow), while the coach stipends and vacation-day changes are district actions aimed at compensating staff within budget constraints. The retiring-employee MOU resolves timing of payment without changing total pay.
All motions related to these personnel items were adopted during the meeting; employment approvals were conditioned on satisfactory background checks and credentials.
