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Teachers urge Kohler board to honor longstanding spousal alternative benefit
Summary
Two district employees—one speaking as the education association president—told the Kohler School District board the administration denied an established spousal alternative benefit (ABIL) to married staff, urged the board to follow the staff handbook, and described a pattern of prior couples having received the benefit.
Rebecca, who identified herself as president of the Kohler Education Association, told the board during public comment that the district recently denied her association’s appeal to provide an alternative benefit option (referred to in testimony as the ABIL) to employees who are married to other district employees. “We respectfully request that you abide by the written terms of the handbook and provide the ABIL to any and all similarly situated employees,” she said.
Troy Manor, a 22-year educator and parent, described being denied the same benefit after raising the issue with the superintendent. Troy said several married couples had historically received the ABIL and that the staff handbook and board policies do not list a marital-status exclusion. “Grandfathering clearly signifies that this was in practice,” he said, noting examples of prior couples who received the benefit until retirement and one couple who has received it since 2022.
Both speakers framed the issue as a handbook- and policy-interpretation dispute and asked the board to review the denial. Rebecca said the benefit was “mutually agreed to by the district and the association decades ago” and described it as long-standing and financially advantageous to staff and the district.
Board procedure during the meeting limited responses: board leadership reminded the public that the board receives comments during the public-comment period and does not engage in back-and-forth questioning at that time.
The board subsequently approved routine business on the consent agenda, which included acceptance of Nicole Whitworth’s resignation effective at the end of the school year.
What happens next: Neither the superintendent nor any board member provided a formal response or announced a next step on the record during public comment. The speakers asked the board to apply handbook language consistently; any formal next step (for example, referral to staff for review or a future agenda item) was not specified during the meeting.
