| Status | Adopted |
| Original Adopted Date | 03/23/2000 |
| Last Revised Date | |
| Last Reviewed Date |
Last Revised Date: 08/10/2020 The School of the Osage needs highly qualified employees to accomplish its education mission and must offer competitive compensation to attract and maintain experienced professional staff in the district. The Board directs the superintendent or designee to annually research regional and statewide trends in employee compensation and consult with district employees to prepare competitive salary schedules and salary recommendations for the Board to consider, within the constraints of the district's finances. Only the Board has the authority to increase an employee's regular compensation or grant employees an extra-duty position or stipend.
As required by law, teachers will be paid in accordance with a Board-adopted salary schedule . All full-time teachers will be paid at least the minimum teacher's salary as required in state law. Noncertificated professional staff and certificated staff members other than teachers will be compensated in accordance with a Board-approved salary schedule or will receive the amount of compensation approved by the Board for particular positions or particular employees.
All Professional Staff Salary Schedules
The Board is required to adopt salary schedules for the compensation of teachers and may use a salary schedule to compensate administrative and noncertificated professional staff. When creating a salary schedule, the Board may recognize characteristics beneficial to the district, such as certification in high-need areas, in addition to traditional factors, such as experience and education.
The following rules apply to all district professional staff salary schedules unless determined otherwise by the Board:
1. The Board will make every effort to adopt salary schedules prior to the statutory deadline for issuing teacher and administrator contracts, but salary schedules and other compensation must be determined along with the district budget no later than June 30. Any Board-adopted salary schedule will remain in effect and continue to operate until Board takes action to change or eliminate the salary schedule.
2. The Board may freeze the operation of the salary schedule when warranted by the financial condition of the district or for other relevant reasons, as determined by the Board. Once a salary schedule is frozen, employees will not advance on the salary schedule until the Board votes to authorize movement on the salary schedule. If the salary schedule is frozen for more than one year before the Board authorizes movement, employees will advance to the next step for which they were eligible at the time the schedule was frozen unless the Board determines that it is financially feasible to allow employees to move through all steps missed while the schedule was frozen. Alternatively, the Board may adopt a new salary schedule that accurately reflects the salary associated with the appropriate years of service.
3. An employee may not advance more than one step vertically per year on the salary schedule unless such movement is allowed by the Board-adopted rules and is uniformly applicable to that particular salary schedule or is otherwise approved by the Board.
4. An employee cannot progress on the salary schedule after entering into a contract for a school year unless such movement is specifically authorized in the contract. Teachers who are entitled to additional salary because of additional preparation will submit their transcripts to the office of the superintendent by September 1 of each school year and the increase shall be included in the current contract.
5. Education courses and other professional development may not be used to advance on a salary schedule unless the employee had prior administrative approval to take the course or participate in the professional development and count it for advancement on the salary schedule. Salaries for the ensuing year will be determined by the number of hours, credit earned and degree earned by September 1 of each year. Credit beyond the degree must be recognized graduate credit.
6. A teacher new to the system may be permitted ten years of experience on the current schedule. Only teaching or occupational experience within the ten year period immediately preceding the date of election is recognized for evaluation but may be considered upon the recommendation of the superintendent. Salary shall be based on years of service in the School of the Osage with allowances for experience in other systems or business and industry up to ten annual increments. Military service of up to one annual increment shall be allowed. The Board delegates to the superintendent or designee the authority to set guidelines on which previous experiences qualify. Employees are responsible for fully apprising the district of their relevant background experiences when first employed in the position. Once the employee is initially placed on the salary schedule, the district is under no obligation to review the placement.
7. Teachers educational increments shall be paid for each eight hours of graduate credit, except no educational increment will be paid beyond the B.S. Degree plus 32 graduate hours without a Maters Degree. No educational increment will be paid beyond the M.S. plus 32 graduate hours without an Educational Specialist Degree. The superintendent in cooperation with the teaching staff, shall periodically review the administrative policy for college credit to apply to the salary schedule.
8. Credit toward a Masters Degree, acceptable on the salary schedule, must be in the teacher's assigned teaching area or in an area directly related to the teaching field.
Teacher Salary Schedules
In accordance with law, participation in a certified teacher externship program will qualify for movement on the salary schedule to the same extent and in the same manner as other graduate-level course credit.
Compensation for Extra Duties
Additional duties, such as supervising activities, may be assigned to professional staff without additional compensation. In some situations and with Board approval, the district may provide an employee with extra-duty compensation or a stipend to compensate the employee for performing additional duties. In those situations, the Board will determine the amount of compensation, which may be set by adopting an extra-duty salary schedule or approving a specific amount for the position.
Employee Responsibility
Employees are responsible for verifying that their salary schedule placement, compensation rate and paychecks are accurate. Employees are required to notify the district within 30 days of receiving an inaccurate payment, and failure to do so could lead to discipline, forfeiture of amounts owed or deductions for excess pay received, as allowed by law.
Compensation Disbursement
In general, professional staff will be paid in equal installments over 12 months, even if the employee's regular work schedule is less than 12 months. Monthly payments shall be made on the 20th day of each month following the first month of teaching service. However, payment for extra duties that are seasonal or limited to a specific timeframe may be paid in the month the work was performed.
Federal
29 U.S.C. § 206(d) Federal Statute
AC PROHIBITION AGAINST ILLEGAL DISCRIMINATION, HARASSMENT AND RETALIATION DLB: Salary Deductions