School District Board salaries get trimmed to nothing

By Dave Fidlin

Correspondent

Members of the Waterford Graded School District Board of Education will not receive any compensation for the next 12 months, following action taken Monday night by residents.

Board salaries were just one of several issues taken up at the district’s Oct. 22 annual meeting.

Each of the five WGSD school board members have received $3,400 annually for the past two consecutive years. But a 10-6 vote taken by residents at the annual meeting favored flattening out the existing level of compensation to nothing.

Resident Carlene Chavez made the motion to change the board’s salary structure.

While she did not provide a reason at that time for her motion, earlier in the evening Chavez had criticized the WGSD board for its recent handling of special education programming – particularly its stated intention to withdraw WGSD students from the Waterford Special Education Cooperative.

School Board President Dan Jensen said Monday night that he was amenable to Chavez’s no-pay idea.

“We’re not here for the money,” Jensen said. “When you take into account the amount of time we put in on this board, it equates to about $2 an hour.

If this passes, it won’t bother anyone on this board.”

Jensen, who earlier in the evening had criticized the Waterford Union High School Board for its handling of special education co-op issues, pointed out that high school board members make more than those serving on the Waterford Graded board.

High school board members receive $3,800 annually.

Four of the five Waterford Graded board members attended the district’s annual meeting. All four members abstained from voting on the salary issue.

The district’s annual meeting – a practice held at this time of year in most Wisconsin school districts – is the one opportunity each year for residents to have an actual vote on policy issues.

In addition to board member salaries, the nearly two-dozen residents attending Waterford Graded’s annual meeting Monday night were able to weigh in on the district’s proposed property tax levy for the 2012-13 school year.