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Board member raises idea of freezing administrator pay amid budget uncertainty; staff outlines contract limits and savings
Summary
A board member suggested freezing building administrator raises as a precaution against uncertain state and federal funding; district staff said administrative pay is contractually tied to teacher salary movement through 2028 and estimated $287,000 in general-fund salary savings (about $326,000 including employer taxes) if a freeze were imposed.
A Sioux Falls School District 49-5 board member urged the board to consider freezing building-administrator raises because of uncertainty in state and federal funding, saying it would be “a good show of faith” while continuing raises for other employees.
The board member prefaced the proposal by noting a background in bargaining and said the matter “is in the General Administrator's unit's hands” but that the board could initiate a process to reopen negotiations. The speaker said the recommendation was a precaution given possible legislative or federal changes that could affect district revenues.
Todd, a district staff member, described the contract context and the budgetary numbers. He said administrator contracts are linked to the teacher-pay schedule and that current administrator compensation arrangements run through 2028. He said the salary portion of the proposed administrative increase in the general fund is $287,000 and that after adding STRs (employer taxes and benefits) the total is about $326,000.
Todd also summarized the historical negotiating context: administrators’ schedules were adjusted in prior years so that administrators’ pay tracks the teacher-schedule movement; last negotiated language ties administrative increases to whatever movement the teacher schedule receives through the contract term. Board members flagged that reopening the administrative contract would require a formal board motion and mutual agreement with the administrative bargaining group.
Why it matters: Freezing salaries could produce short-term savings but would require either reopening contract language or mutual agreement with administrators; staff said the administrative pay schedule is currently tied to teacher increases and that any change would follow contract and bargaining procedures.
Next steps: Board members discussed the idea and asked staff for the precise dollar impacts; no motion or vote was taken at the work session. Staff will include budget figures in the tentative budget presentation at the next regular meeting.
