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Kenosha staff recommend 2.95% boost to non‑FTE hourly wages; district estimates modest budget impact
Summary
Staff proposed a 2.95% increase for non‑FTE/variable‑hour pay lines (including substitute teachers and hourly school roles). Preliminary district totals show $7.2M in timesheet pay last fiscal year and an estimated ~$100,000 wage impact (not including additional benefits), with further department-level costing pending.
At the Aug. 14 agenda review, HR and finance staff said they plan to recommend applying a 2.95% base-wage increase to the district’s non‑FTE hourly wage table. The proposal covers substitute teachers, long-term subs, game-management staff, noon-hour supervisors, part-time library clerks and other variable-hour roles; summer-school rates and several fixed-rate categories were excluded from the universal 2.95% recommendation.
Staff reported that the district paid approximately $7.2 million in timesheet (variable-hour) pay in fiscal year 2025 and estimated the 2.95% increase would add about $100,000 to that line item, with a caveat: the district lacks a time-and-attendance system that would let staff precisely tie hours to departmental budgets. Presenters warned that benefit costs—including additional WRS (Wisconsin Retirement System) contributions for employees who cross eligibility thresholds—could raise the effective cost by several percentage points in some cases.
Board members asked whether various funds could absorb the increase; staff said food-services (Fund 50) would be able to absorb additional hourly costs, while some facility budgets (e.g., substitute custodians) are already strained and might need discretionary budget adjustments. Staff recommended cleaning up the published pay schedule and said some old positions (e.g., CLC non‑certified instructor) no longer exist and will be removed from the schedule.
Why it matters: the change would directly affect hourly workers and substitutes who often operate on smaller budgets and variable hours; staff said the board previously added roughly $1 million to retain building substitutes and that the district did not fully use last year’s substitute allocation.
Next steps: staff will refine departmental breakouts and benefit‑cost assumptions before the recommended item is presented for board action.
