Bill Saunders. superintendent, MAPS

MARQUETTE — The Marquette Area Public Schools Board of Education on Monday approved merit pay for “effective” and “highly effective” teachers.

The board voted for staff having the choice of half a merit day for effective teachers or a full merit day for highly effective staff, or a stipend for merit pay as an option for members of the Marquette Area Education Association at $67.25 per employee for effective teachers and $130.75 per employee for highly effective teachers to equal $90 and $175, respectively, as a total cost to the school district. The higher amounts include other expenses such as Social Security and Medicare.

“Merit pay is part of state law,” MAPS Superintendent Bill Saunders said. “Each district is required to have some type or some form of merit pay.”

Saunders brought to the board a consideration in determining merit pay for the 2019-20 school year: attaching a sick leave component.

The district had a median of about 6.5 sick days per teacher last school year, said Saunders, whose rationale was to provide an incentive for teachers to take fewer than six days, therefore taking money used for substitute teachers and moving it over for merit pay.

“The intent was, there’s $120,000 here we’re paying to subs,” Saunders said. “Potentially, I reallocate that resource and our teachers could actually get more of that. It’s going to boost their retirement. It’s going to boost their income a little bit within the scope of the contract. It doesn’t violate anything that we’re doing contractually.”

For example, Saunders said a highly effective teacher who misses zero days would receive a check for $600; a highly effective teacher who misses one to three days would receive $400, while a highly effective teacher who misses four or five days would get $200. Anyone who misses more than six days would receive $130.75.

The same rule would apply to effective teachers.

“This would make Marquette the highest paid, at least in our area, as far as merit goes, tying attendance in,” Saunders said.

He said criteria for determining whether a teacher is highly effective or effective include classroom management, instruction and professionalism.

Saunders also said the new way of handling merit pay would be an incentive for teachers, pointing out their contracts allow for them to accumulate sick pay. However, he doesn’t believe teachers are looking ahead to the end of their careers and expecting to get a $15,000 check upon leaving the district.

“This is another way to really incentivize that and say, yes, it does mean something,” Saunders said. “Here’s something tangible right now that we can put in your pocket versus you having to wait until the end of your career to possibly do it.”

Board Secretary-Treasurer James Hewitt stressed the idea was not to put undue pressure on ill staff.

“It’s not meant as a message from the board and the administration that, hey, if you’re not feeling well, we need you to buck up and come in to work,” Hewitt said.

Keith Glendon questioned the concept of tying merit pay to attendance.

“That’s what’s being done, though,” Saunders said. “That part isn’t groundbreaking. Attendance is part of the evaluation process as well.”

Saunders said the merit pay issue could come up at the next regular board meeting scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Nov. 19 at the Marquette Senior High School Library.

The board on Monday also accepted the 2017-18 audit report from Rehmann Robson, based in downstate Cheboygan, which showed an “unmodified opinion” for the district, a high rating.