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School board accepts long‑time resignations and approves several new hires after debate over PE/AD pay
Summary
Deuel School District trustees accepted retirements from two long‑serving employees and approved multiple hires, including a combined PE teacher/athletic director role that prompted a prolonged discussion over stipend versus base salary and workload.
The Deuel School District 19‑4 board on Wednesday accepted the resignations of two long‑time employees and approved several hires, including a controversial arrangement hiring a teacher to serve part time as athletic director.
Board members unanimously accepted the retirement of Lynn Stoltenberg, who served the district for 31 years, and Jeannie Timmons, the elementary administrative assistant for 39 years. The chair thanked both employees for their service.
The board approved hiring Braden and Simon as middle school track coaches and approved the hire of Maddie Perry as middle/high school counselor; the superintendent said Perry is newly graduated and lives in Milbank. “She’s excited to come here and this will be her first experience,” the superintendent said. The motion to hire Perry was moved, seconded and approved by voice vote.
A longer and more contested discussion centered on hiring Matt Lepke as a PE teacher and athletic director under a split arrangement. The superintendent described a structure where Lepke would teach in the morning and spend afternoons on athletic‑director duties, a model the district has used to combine teaching and AD duties in similarly sized schools. The superintendent said the arrangement is common in nearby districts.
Board members questioned whether the proposed pay structure — roughly a $51,000 base with a separate $7,000 stipend for after‑hours AD duties — adequately compensates the hours required and whether the stipend should instead be folded into base salary. "If you're going to pay an athletic director a certain amount, if you're going to hire somebody to come in as an athletic director and pay him $50,000, you shouldn't have a stipend," a board member said, arguing pay should reflect total duties. The chair suggested trying the split arrangement for one year and reassessing rather than immediately changing salary schedules.
The board approved the hire, with at least one trustee saying, "I think we try it for a year." No formal vote tally was recorded in the minutes; the chair declared the motion carried.
The board also approved surplus of a Lincoln Electric welder and accepted motions related to payroll and prior meeting minutes during routine consent business.
