Board discusses $5,000 top coaching supplement and mirroring assistant‑principal pay

School leaders and staff debated coaching stipends and administrative pay at the March 24 Cannon County budget workshop, centering on a request to set the top coaching supplement at $5,000 and to raise assistant‑principal stipends to match.

A school staff member (Speaker 3) and assistant principals and other administrators questioned current stipend parity, noting some assistant-principal and administrative duties already extend work months and include built‑in extra pay. "If y'all want to raise our supplement, I'm not gonna argue with you... but I do at least wanna make sure that I had that kinda cleared up," an assistant principal (Speaker 10) said, urging a formulaic review of stipends.

What was proposed: presenters said the coaching supplement request uses the highest current coaching stipend ($5,000) as the reference point and recommended that assistant‑principal stipends "mirror the highest coaching supplement," so AP stipends would increase where appropriate. Several board members warned that increasing AP stipends to equal the top coaching stipend could require raising principal stipends as well to keep internal equity.

Budget mechanics and fairness concerns: finance staff explained the principal stipend formula (base amount plus a per‑certified‑teacher component) and said any change requires running the formula for each school so the board can see per‑principal impacts. Assistant principals noted many already receive compensation for additional months of work; coaches receive seasonal stipends while administrative roles include extended contracts and daily responsibilities.

Next steps: the board asked staff to provide a breakdown of each principal’s current stipend, the formula used, and modeled costs for raising AP stipends to specified levels so members can compare the options before taking formal action.