Sylvania school officials get bonuses
10/2/2002The Sylvania board of education recently voted 4-1 to award performance-based pay of $5,588 to Superintendent Les Schultz and $2,676 to Arlene Wilson, treasurer and chief financial officer of the district.
The administrators are eligible for incentive pay of up to 4 percent of their annual salaries if certain goals are met.
Board president Mark Luetke said that Mr. Schultz received a grade of 85 percent for his performance during the last school year and Mrs. Wilson was graded at 95 percent by board members.
Included in the compensation for Mr. Schultz is two awards of $1,000 each for meeting the goal of proficiency test results for the system.
Board member Pam Haynam voted against the dollar awards for both administrators.
She said Mr. Schultz was absent from work about 25 percent of the last school year and that although she wouldn't penalize someone for an illness, she thinks the circumstances argued against a bonus.
Mr. Schultz was off for parts of last school year for surgery related to an abdominal problem.
Mrs. Haynam said she was opposed to the award for Mrs. Wilson because the treasurer has about 18 months left on her contract with Sylvania schools, and has announced her resignation.
George Gernot, vice president of the board, said he favored the additional compensation and added that the money is part of the compensation for the administrators in their contracts and not strictly a bonus.
Mr. Luetke added that if Mrs. Wilson was penalized for making a career move it could have a “chilling effect,'' on other administrators that the board might want to hire in the future.
The amounts are based on the salary of $105,529 from Mr. Schultz, and $70,421 for Mrs. Wilson.