Give Jordan benefit to all?
Insurance cash-out option is under scrutiny
And at least one board member thinks that would be a good idea.
The Jordan Classified Professional Association is targeting the Jordan Board of Education's $17,000-plus insurance cash-out the board approved for itself last month. The option came as part of a larger compensation package, which quadrupled board members' pay to $12,000 a year and tied that pay to the consumer price index so it will rise with inflation.
JCPA President Gary Martensen says the board should set aside the insurance option and study the matter further. And if they decide it's a good idea, then the option should be made available to all employees.
"We negotiate every year for every little penny we can get, and when the board gives themselves a big raise like that ..." Martensen said Friday. "The (raised salary), we're not too concerned about that. But as for the option on the insurance, we didn't feel that was a very good decision."
The association will bring the proposal to the board meeting Tuesday at 7 p.m. It also has talked to board members Tracy Cowdell and Kim Horiuchi about the proposal, according to a letter urging members to contact board members about setting aside that part of the compensation package for a time.
Extending that option to the employees, if the board moves in that direction, would have to come as part of annual negotiations, which are over for this budget year, Cowdell said.
A new state law allowed school boards to set their own compensation. The old law limited board members' pay to $3,000 a year. The Jordan Board examined compensation for area city councils and the time they put in each week to come up with what it believed to be a fair compensation package that would last for years.
The board wanted the raise to set it up to be a strong, part-time board instead of a volunteer board, board member Kim Horiuchi has said. It also wanted to set an example other school boards could follow.
Alpine and Washington school districts also plan to look at compensation.
But Jordan's decision was widely criticized by the public, with phone calls flooding the district office the morning after the vote.
Last week, board members Ellen Wallace and Peggy Jo Kennett said they wanted to review the action, specifically the insurance cash-out. The item is on Tuesday's board agenda.
E-mail: jtcook@desnews.com
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