Trustees on Nov. 24 spent substantial time debating a district business‑office proposal to move some hourly employees from spread pay (pay spread across months, including the summer) to timesheet/hourly pay.

Adrian (payroll) explained to the board that spread pay creates extensive manual overrides in the payroll system because many employees are treated as salaried by the software; payroll staff estimate the manual work tied to these overrides consumes roughly 2,260 combined hours per year between two payroll employees. Adrian said roughly 105 people currently use some form of spread pay and that about 75 employees would be directly affected by the proposed change, with 63 identified as paras who have contractual language protecting spread pay.

The board and payroll staff discussed alternatives: adding an additional payroll/business‑office hire (estimated total annual cost of $66,000–$89,000 including salary and benefits) or changing pay practice and then treating contract changes as a bargaining priority. Superintendent Carey framed the tradeoff as "one or the other" — either hire more administrative staff or make the pay change.

Public comment included a paraeducator, Nicole Malewski, who said spread pay provides predictable income that preserves eligibility for housing, SNAP and other benefits; she warned that moving to timesheet pay would destabilize low‑wage households and could push workers out of the district. Union representative Tom Whiteside said other districts continue to offer spread pay while remaining compliant with state laws cited by the district and urged the board to provide additional finance office support rather than eliminating staff pay predictability.

Board members requested that the business office bring back a proposal in January, either outlining how to add staff to reduce manual payroll burden or giving fuller details on a pay‑practice change and its contractual implications. No action was taken Nov. 24.