In a 3 to 2 vote June 17, Carroll School Board approved increases in administrators' salaries and a two-year extension of their contracts.

Superintendent John Sayers made the proposal for a two percent increase in the administrators' salary schedule, extension of their contracts to June 30, 2010, and a retention incentive for elementary principal Carolyn O'Connell.

Sayers explained later to the Comet that the two percent increase applied to the two principals and the two assistant principals. Also considered in the package vote was an eight percent raise for the athletic director (and two-year contract extension).

The retention incentive for the elementary principal provides for a $7,000 bonus if she continues to stay in the corporation for two more years.

Voting in favor of the package were Eric Johnson and outgoing board members Mike Eikenberry and Barb Payne. Voting against the package were Dave Lambert and board president Sam Zook.

The Comet later asked Lambert and Zook for the reasons for their vote.

Lambert said his vote was against the contract extensions and against the raise that was for more than two percent.

The AD position is currently held by Shaun Rose. He has been the AD at Carroll for one year. His salary will be increased by $4,000 - from $50,000 to $54,000.

Zook said he could have supported the pay increases and the retention incentive for the elementary principal, but his vote was against the contract extensions and against considering them at this time.

"Compensation shouldn't be tied to contract extensions or renewals," Zook said.

He said it's his understanding that if an administrator's contract is not to be renewed, he or she must be notified by the end of the calendar year. He said he thinks contract renewals and/or extensions should also be con- sidered at that time.

"Then contract extensions could have been voted on by the new board," he said.

The new board, to be comprised of three current board members and two new ones, will organize the first meeting in July.

After the vote on the administrators' salary schedule, Payne moved to increase the superintendent's salary by two percent, extend his contract two years, give him a retention incentive for staying two years, and a stipend for cell phone use. This vote passed unanimously.

Besides the AD's salary, stated above, the new salaries for the other administrators and superintendent are as follows: Junior-senior high school principal, $78,570; junior-senior high school assistant principal, $65,950; elementary principal, $72,145; elementary assistant principal, $57,062; superintendent, $94,128.

Sayers said O'Connell's salary includes two additional weeks for Title I work, paid with Title I money.

Science renovation

Dana Wannemacher of Barton Coe Vilamaa (architects/engineers) and Chris LaFollette of Envoy (construction managers) presented proposed plans for the junior-senior high school science renovation.

Total cost for the renovation, including air conditioning, piping, and electrical work, is estimated at nearly $12 million, according to LaFollette.

Before commenting, Sayers said he had to get past the "sticker shock." The board agreed to take the plans under advisement.

Sayers said the board will need to study the plans and prioritize needs.

The go-ahead was given to Crenshaw Paving to renew and replace the asphalt parking area next to the Administration Building. Cost will be $32,614.52, to be paid out of the Capital Projects Fund.

Sayers reported that the corporation only received one bid when it advertised for a temporary loan in the amount of $800,000. The bid of Lafayette Bank & Trust was accepted, with an interest rate of 2.75 percent.

Fall coaches

Fall coaches were hired as follows: (Some vacancies exist.)

Football: Varsity head coach, Steve Keown; assistants, Tom Hall, Bill Dillon; assistant and B team, Shawn Wickersham. Freshman coach, John Filbrun. Eighth grade coach, Brent Marley; assistant, Nate Meyer. Seventh grade coach, Chad Myers.

Cross country: Varsity head coach, Mike Miller; assistant, Amy Cottrell; volunteer assistant, Larry Henning. Junior high coach, Matt Benner.

Soccer: Varsity head coach, David Falkenberg.

Tennis: Varsity head coach, Jerry Reinke.

Girls golf: Varsity head coach, Erin Garrison.

Volleyball: Varsity head coach, Sarah Kirkman.

A 12-month contract was signed for vocational agricultural teacher Steve Keown.

The superintendent announced the resignation of social studies teacher Clay Hanna.

Principal Charles Huckstep reported on the spring sports GPA standing. The girls tennis team had the highest GPA, 3.575, followed closely by the softball team, 3.547, and then track, 3.053.

Discipline report

Assistant principal Fred Schnarr gave the annual discipline report for the junior-senior high school. He said overall, discipline referrals went down. Total infractions went from 2,954 in 2006-2007 to 2,463 in 2007-2008. Total days of in-school suspension went from 376 last year to 315 this year. Total days of out-ofschool suspension went from 83 days last year to 69 this year.

This was the last board meeting for Eikenberry and Payne. They were thanked for their years of service and their individual contributions to the board. Payne has served 16 years, and Eikenberry, four years.

The next board meeting will be July 1 at 7:30 p.m. at the Administration Building.