Ogden School Board discusses joining state merit-pay pilot created by Senate Bill 173

Ogden City School District staff reviewed Senate Bill 173 — the state's market-informed compensation pilot for teachers — and outlined what participation would mean for teachers, timelines and remaining questions before the board.

The district's human resources director, Jessica Benitek, told the board the law creates three performance tiers for a three-year pilot and that the program is administered by the Center for the Schools of the Future. Under the model, top Tier 1 "master" teachers (top 5%) would receive $10,000 per year for three years (total $30,000) from the pilot; teachers in "exemplary" (6'10%) would receive $5,000 per year; and "recognized" teachers (11'25%) would receive $2,000 per year. Teachers at qualifying high-poverty schools would receive double those amounts, Benitek said.

Benitek said a school counts as high-poverty under the pilot if October 1 counts show either at least 20% of students classified as affected by intergenerational poverty or at least 70% of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. She also said the program requires objective, weighted criteria (student achievement, professional evaluation, parent surveys and an optional category) that must total 100% and that the district's plan is due to the center by April 1, 2025.

Board members raised practical concerns about implementation: how the pilot would affect teacher collaboration, whether team-based measures would reduce unhealthy competition, and whether many secondary and specialized teachers (CTE, special programs, some English or arts teachers) would be excluded because the first-year plan must rely on state-tested subject areas. Several board members urged caution, noting the pilot could require substantial changes to teacher-evaluation infrastructure (for example, differing point scales) and would add administrative work for staff.

Benitek said the district already opted in to study the pilot before the December 31 participation deadline so it could be "at the table" with other districts, and she described a near-term schedule: collaboration meetings with the center in mid-January, a Canvas course for plan development, committee work (at least 50% teachers on the plan-development committee) and, if the district submits a plan by April 1, data collection between August 2025 and August 2026 with payouts announced in October 2026; teachers who qualify in the first payout would automatically receive the same payment for the next two years of the pilot.

Board members discussed tradeoffs: being part of the pilot would let the district flag problems and propose improvements to legislators and the center, but participation also risks disrupting local school culture if teachers view awards as unfair. Benitek and other staff said participation is reversible before the April 1 submission date, but several board members asked staff to confirm whether the district could formally withdraw after submitting a plan. Benitek said she would ask the center for that clarification.

No formal vote on the April 1 submission was taken at the work session; staff said the decision will return to the board after committee work and teacher feedback.