MV School Adjusts Athletic Salaries

Mountain View School made some significant changes to its athletic salary structure at this week's meeting to make coaches’ pay comparable with other schools.

Athletic Director Tim Howard presented the board a proposal Wednesday that included raising the pay of head basketball coaches by $1,000 and assistants by $2,500, making them equal to football coaches. He also proposed extending the head coaches’ contract length for both sports. He recommended an increase from 190 days to 205 for head coaches and 200 for assistants. After discussion, the board increased them to 215-day contracts for head coaches and 210 for assistants.

They also voted to increase the band director’s contract from 190 to 215 days. The total cost is expected to be offset by an assistant coach position being eliminated. After Howard’s initial presentation, Tori Callahan commented that 205 days was still low for a 3A school, and 215 was the lowest they had seen among other schools. Howard said 205 days would put Mountain View mid-range for coach pay, and the difference between 205 and 215 would be about $2,400 per person for the head coaches.
Paula Gammill asked about the band director, cheer and dance coaches, who also spend time working in the summer.

Assistant Supt. Brent Howard said he agreed both that the increase was needed and that other staff deserved similar consideration.

“We have other people up here working hard, Mr. Henley, dance, cheer, etc. I think this is our first step. ... If we’ve got people up here working hard every day, making sure our kids are at the highest level they can be, I’m for it,” he said.

Gammill also questioned whether they could afford the increases.

Finance/Facilities Coordinator Cindy Smith said they were expecting news any day about a resolution from the state board that would assure reimbursement of the funds they have to pay Rural Special and Timbo. Regardless of how that turns out, she also said that an assistant coach position they did not fill would more than offset what Howard proposed.

Callahan commented that coaches are expected to be there working in the summer and should be compensated for the extra work. Lori Dobbins added that there have been times they were not there, and if the increases were approved, she would expect them to be. Matt Dearien made a motion to go with the 215-day contract for the three head coaches. It was noted that this would create too much separation between the head coaches and assistants, so he amended the motion to raise assistants to 210-day contracts.

The total cost for the longer contracts would be $46,040 ($6,575 per head coach and $5,263 per assistant), in addition to the increases to basketball coaches. Smith said with one less assistant coach, it would be almost a wash.

Gammill said they should make it a goal to look at other activities soon. Later in the meeting, during personnel actions following an executive session, the board approved a motion by Dearien to increase the band director’s contract to 215 days.

The board hired a new girls basketball coach, Magen Scrivner, following the executive session. They also hired Rebecca Parks as middle school special ed teacher and Tammy Knapp as high school one-to-one aide. They transferred Jill Gardner from middle school to high school special ed aide and accepted the resignations of pre-K teacher Rebecca Clark and Timbo business teacher Camille Murphree.

Garry Moody also resigned from additional coaching duties. The board had just added assistant football coach to Moody’s contract during a recent special meeting for personnel.

Also at that meeting, they accepted the resignation of head football coach Michael Gray and Curtis Sims was transferred to head coach. Aaron Wilkins was transferred from a teaching position to middle school assistant principal. Kindergarten teacher Amanda Stewart also resigned, and they hired Ashley Avey as Mountain View School District special ed LEA for three days a week, and Jonathan Johnson as bus driver.

Two bus drivers are transferring from Timbo to Mountain View: Stuart Gearhart and Mary Beth Carroll. Also, school resource officers Greg Vannatter and Tony Trammell will transfer to the Mountain View campus and have split positions with study hall and other assigned duties.

In other business last week, the board:

• heard a brief update on detachment issues. Howard said they are waiting for clarification on School Choice policies, but his belief is that students who have been attending a particular school will not have to fill out papers to stay there. They are also figuring out how to manage summer trips that will be taking place around the time the districts officially separate.

Howard said he is getting guidance from Arkansas School Boards Association about the board’s options for restructuring and eliminating the two positions that currently represent Rural Special and Timbo or filling them at-large. Sue Fletcher, who represents Timbo, was not present at the meeting, and Rachelle Stewart from Rural Special abstained from all votes during the meeting.

• expelled one student, identified by ID number, from March 20 through June 15 of this year.

• agreed to continue the supplemental accident insurance for students that they offer every year. This is intended to apply only after the student’s primary insurance or if they have no insurance.

• approved doing electronic funds transfers instead of checks for insurance payments starting July 1, as this will be required.

• heard a report on recent achievements, including successful state assessment tests. Curriculum Coordinator Melissa Howard reported she was especially proud of 3rd grade for their performance on the ATLAS test, which is required for advancement to 4th grade.

• approved all stipends for sponsors for the current school year.

• approved the consent agenda that includes minutes, financial report, student transfer requests, and enrollment report. There were no transfers, and enrollment was 1,457 total (1,081 at Mountain View, 202 at Rural Special, and 174 at Timbo).

Paula Gammill asked about getting a monthly report on the solar program, and Smith said they are still getting things processed but everything is working now, and as soon as it starts showing up on bills they can do a monthly comparison from the previous year.

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