AMY SZPARA

RESERVE – The St. John the Baptist Parish School Board approved a new salary schedule that gives teachers a $1,000 raise, with an additional $1,000 supplement next fiscal year. This raise comes from a quarter-cent sales tax that voters approved for teacher raises in October, which went into effect Jan. 1. This was midway through the fiscal year, so only half the tax was collected, allowing for half of the $2,000 salary raise to be given now. Teachers will receive the full raise in July. Other changes to the new schedule will include supplements for special education assistants, nurses, athletic directors, head cooks, head janitors and band directors. Superintendent Chris Donaldson said he wants to make sure everyone knows that all funds received from the sales tax go to teacher salaries. The money is divided by the number of teachers and goes straight to them, he said. Other changes come from other funds. Though the board unanimously approved these changes, it found fault with the current principal and assistant principal salaries. With the new teacher raises, the highest paid teachers would not have much of a salary difference from some administrators. Aware of this problem before approving the new schedule, board members have agreed to actively seek out a solution. Principals will be meeting with administrators to come up with a way to fund raises for assistant principals and principals. Board member Russ Wise brought up the point that there is no salary schedule for principals who have earned a doctorate degree. He said there should be higher pay for those principals, not only to reward them for their higher education, but to give an incentive to other principals to further their education. Other topics of discussion included Career Awareness Day, an event that will be held at Louisiana Technical College River Parishes Campus. Dennis Murphy, school director, and Bubbie Anderson of Marathon presented the topic, explaining that 10th-graders from local high schools will visit the school in March and learn about the courses offered. Murphy said the jobs students are trained for at the school are the jobs that can be found in the area. These include careers in welding, drafting and industrial fields. Students will be brought into every program and shown how the school teaches with a hands-on approach. Grants that have been awarded to teachers in the parish were also discussed at the meeting. The board recognized the teachers who wrote grants and received between $779.95 to $1,000 for improvements to their classrooms. Grant funds were used to buy computer software, audio visual equipment, books, cameras and other tools to enhance learning.