The results of our 2021-22 Market Study, which was commissioned by the Employee Compensation Committee (ECC), is now running more than a month behind.
Why the Delay?
While it was expected that results of the study would be in-hand by the end of March, and potential salary schedules under discussion by ECC in April, the study by Koff & Associates has not yet been completed and the district has yet to receive complete drafts of all salary schedules for discussion by ECC. This delay has been caused by a combination of factors including response time from districts used for comparison, and the number of questions and additional information sought by ECC, the District and Koff to ensure the final analysis and market study was thorough and complete.
In April, the District and ECC received an initial summary of Koff’s work. This summary showed that Koff’s analysis of the 77 benchmark positions found them to be 3% over the study median. Koff & Associates then sought direction from ECC to affirm their recommendation that draft salary schedules be created based on the study median. ECC members voted to have Koff and Associates build salary schedule drafts that reflected the study median as a starting point for their discussions before reaching a final recommendation to the Governing Board and Administration. This Tuesday, a few hours before ECC’s meeting the same day, a draft of a potential teacher salary schedule was provided and discussion by ECC began. We have not yet received classified or management salary schedule drafts.
What’s Next
Between now and June, ECC’s work is going to focus on:
- Analyzing and discussing Koff & Associates’ suggested salary schedules and work product,
- Identifying areas where ECC feels additional study or work is needed,
- Re-evaluating the timelines for market study completion and implementation recommendations,
- At their May 12 meeting, members will be asked to consider whether they wish to recommend any other compensation-related changes to the Board in June to allow for more time to complete and finalize market study results and recommendations to ensure they are thorough and of the best quality possible.
While this is not where members of our ECC wanted to be just a month before typically making a recommendation about compensation changes for our employees to the Governing Board, the group remains committed to a thorough and complete market study, and to taking the time necessary to do a high-quality job on behalf of our employees. ECC will continue to send updates after each of their meetings, and I encourage you to reach out to me if you have any questions moving forward.