The Brainerd School Board approved a new 2019-21 non-principals contract during its meeting Monday, Dec. 9.
The contract was renamed this year to director, assistant director and dean master contract to better clarify the group represented, Human Resources Director Angie Bennett said.
The group includes the directors of teaching and learning, community education, activities, technology, buildings and grounds and nutrition services, along with assistant directors of community education, special education and early childhood special education.
“A lot of the other changes was clarification/expansion of the language within the agreement just to mirror some of the things that were in practice, but not really included in the previous contract, such as non-contract day, holidays, FMLA … those types of things,” Bennett told board members.
Another change, Bennett said, comes with insurance plans. Current administrators move from a plan with a $3,000/$6,000 deductible to one with a $4,000/$8,000 deductible starting Jan. 1.
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Any new members hired on or after Jan. 1, 2020, will start with the $3,000/$6,000 deductible health insurance plan.
The district will see further savings through a change in the severance section of the agreement, where lump sum payments will move from a 403(b) tax-advantaged retirement savings plan to a health reimbursement arrangement plan. This change allows the funds to come out of the district’s other post-employment benefits fund instead of the general fund, which Bennett said will be a considerable savings for the district.
In other business Monday, the board:
Approved the hire of Christopher Ceynowa, emotional and behavioral disorder teacher at Forestview Middle School.
Accepted donations to the district: $5,000 from Upsala Area Schools for the Brainerd High School robotics program; $200 from Anderson Brothers Construction for the BHS robotics program; and $40 from Country Fabrics for the Forestview Middle School food pantry.
Approved a field trip request for students to attend the Model Assembly for Youth in Government event Jan. 9-12 in Minneapolis.
Congratulated Forestview Middle School eighth-grade student Eric Hebert for his selection to the Minnesota State Honor Jazz Band. The honor band consists of 17 members throughout the state. Hebert will play baritone saxophone and is the only student in the band from outstate Minnesota.
Approved the creation of a six-digit number system for courses to be used across the district to remedy naming redundancies and inconsistencies. The current numerical identifiers have been in place since at least 1993-94, but the new warehousing system the district obtained in 2010 requires a unique course number for every class offering across all schools to pull accurate information, and the district’s current three-digit numerical system is quickly running out of unique options.
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Gave its support for a Safe Routes to School engineering study grant application, in conjunction with the city of Brainerd, for routes near Harrison, Lowell and Riverside elementary schools.
THERESA BOURKE may be reached at
theresa.bourke@brainerddispatch.com
or 218-855-5860. Follow her on Twitter at
www.twitter.com/DispatchTheresa
.
