By MELISSA PEACOCK

RESERVE – The St. John the Baptist Parish School Board passed Superintendent Michael Coburn’s original recommendation Thursday for a principal pay raise.

The board voted 9-2 in favor of the salary hike despite criticism from the public and some school board members that accountability comes before reward.

“I may be the skunk at the picnic, but for the same thought process raised here, I cannot support the pay raise,” Russ Wise, District 8 board member, said.

Wise said he supports increasing employee pay, but only when it is merited. So far, he said, student test scores have not indicated principals are ready for the raise.

“The raise would give St. John either the ninth or seventh highest pay rate in the state,” Wise said. “While there are valid reasons for doing so, tests scores are not the ninth or seventh highest. If you look at the numbers we just got (Accountability Report Cards for Principals), we have slid in at least three schools.”

State Accountability Report Cards for Principals were released Thursday. The report cards assign School Performance Scores (SPS) schools based on results from standardized tests, such as LEAP and Iowa tests, as well as on attendance, drop out rates and results from Graduate Exit Exams. While the reported scores at some St. John Schools have improved, others have fallen below their previous scores.

Accountability scores are John L. Ory Magnet Schools rose from 100.2 points to 106 points, the highest in the parish. At LaPlace Elementary, scores rose 4.1 points, from 89.7 to 93.8. Glade School slipped more than five points on the 2002 reports, while West St. John Elementary lost three points. West St. John High School had more than a two-point dip in its SPS score.

Earlier this year, Coburn reassigned a number of principals within the parish, hoping a change in administrative staff at some schools would bring up test scores and increase parental involvement. The school structure was also changed to a K-8 configuration, eliminating the need for junior high schools.

When Coburn introduced the pay raise proposal, he told the board the raise was timely because of the increased responsibilities of principals. Coburn also said the increased pay would help attract and retain quality principals and Thursday most board members agreed.

What some board members did not agree on was how to implement the raise and when to consider raises for other school employees.

“I am going to support the pay raise,” Leroy Mitchell, District 1 board member, said. “I have not wavered, have not changed. I will not support Option Two. Once this is passed we will immediately start looking at raises for the system.”

Option Two was an alternative plan supported by board member Matthew Ory. The alternative would have given all principals an increase well above assistant principal salaries. Ory and other board members were concerned that some assistant principals, working 10 months per year, were making more than principals who work 12 months per year. Option Two, Ory said, would keep the board from having to readdress the salaries of principals (making less than assistant principals) in the future. Support for the plan never materialized.

The original plan eliminates elementary school principal salary. Principals at K-8 schools will be paid according to a junior high school principal salary schedule. The change will add about $3,500 to the K-8 principal salary. Raises for high school principals will depend upon school size. High school principals are expected to see somewhere between $4,000-$6,000 additional dollars per year as a result of the change.

“We need to keep the level high so that we do not lose our ‘Principal of the Year’ to St. Charles Parish,” Lowell Bacas, District 9, said. “Surrounding schools, from what I understand, are paying a whole lot more.”

Several principals, teachers and office staff attended the meeting and urged the board to be fair in allotting pay raises.

“We all feel that we deserve a raise regardless of whether we have degrees or not,” one woman said. “All of us are here for the well-being of the students.”