Raises for CV principals mean shifts in staffing

An increase in principals’ pay in the Central Valley School District will result in fewer assistant principals at middle schools next year.

District staff decided not to fill two vacant assistant principal positions at two of the district’s five middle schools. Instead, two vice principals will each oversee two schools, a move that has caused some concern among staff.

“Middle school is when kids need the attention the most,” said Evergreen Middle School teacher Eileen Garcia. “It’s a time that opens up a wide variety of choices for them to make as individuals, and some of them don’t know how to make choices very well.”

The assistant principal plays a key role in helping shape student behavior and controlling discipline problems, Garcia said. Often, they are the link between parents and the school.

“The assistant principal probably makes more phone calls to parents than any person in the building,” Garcia said. “Now they are loading one person up with double the kids and the parents. It’s going to be a problem.”

The school board voted this month to ratify the contract for principals and assistant principals. It includes an average 5 percent to 6 percent increase in pay and benefits, depending on years of service, said Lise Louer, assistant superintendent.

“The increased costs were fair, but we needed to come up with the money somewhere,” said Superintendent Mike Pearson. The good news, he said, is that no one will get fired.

“We didn’t have to RIF anyone,” he said. “We did it through the attrition and retirements.”

Two longtime middle school principals, Laurie Sheffler at Horizon and Bob Johnson at Bowdish, retired this year.

“That left us with some flexibility to move some folks around,” Pearson said.

Dave Bouge, principal at North Pines, will move into the post at Bowdish. Gordon Grassi, assistant principal at North Pines, will take over as principal.

Horizon Assistant Principal Dennis Rusca will take over the principal post at his school.

Assistant Principal John Parker will divide time between his current post at Evergreen and North Pines. Bowdish Assistant Principal Sandra Allen will add Horizon to her duties. Greenacres Middle School, the largest of the five schools, will continue to have a full-time assistant principal.

“I’m not criticizing the decision; I understand the need, but I’m very worried about it,” said Bouge, who has been the principal at North Pines for 15 years. “I’m very leery. I think there is a level of service that the community has come to expect, and now they won’t be getting it.”

Bouge said he is hopeful the district will continue to pursue other options. Pearson said the district will try to keep the principals and assistants available to students more than in the past.

“We’ll try to eliminate as many meetings as possible,” Pearson said.

The district’s two school resource officers will now have offices in the middle schools to help with discipline issues. In years past, they have spent most of their time at the two high schools.

“We won’t be abandoning anybody. We are going to be watching very carefully and making sure people have the support they need,” Louer said.

The increase in pay and benefits for principals was necessary to bring salaries in line with state averages, Louer said.

Central Valley compared its pay and benefits against 12 other districts in the state with similar demographics, such as the Mead School District.

A comparison was also made with Spokane Public Schools, although the district is twice as large. Central Valley principals fell near the bottom of the scale, and now they are fourth or fifth among those comparison schools, Louer said.

The state pays about $44,000, leaving the district to cover the remaining amount of an $80,000 base salary.

“This is one way that we felt we could provide the compensation that we need to for principals in a fair and equitable manner, and also be able to manage the district’s finances,” Louer said.

The decision to cut two assistant principal positions was tied in part to enrollment at the affected schools.

Optimum enrollment for a middle school is about 600, Louer said. Those schools are well below that number.

“At a school like Horizon, we are projecting about 430 students next year,” Louer said. “We have elementary schools that are larger than that, and they do not have full-time assistants.”

Liberty Lake Elementary, however, will have 790 students next year, and will get a full-time assistant principal, she said.