Salaries at Poplar Bluff R-1 will increase by 4.75 percent next year after unanimous approval from the Board of Education during Thursday's monthly meeting while a boys swim team was also approved beginning in the 2018-19 school year.
Assistant Superintendent of Finance Rod Priest said the raises will impact all salaried pay scales in the district.
"This is a different philosophy than in the past," Priest said. "Usually the school district adds only to the base, so the same dollar amount is added to every step regardless of where a teacher may be on the salary schedule."
The starting salary for a teacher with a Bachelors degree at Poplar Bluff will rise from $32,500 per year to $33,585.11, an amount Priest said he hopes will make the district more attractive to potential employees.
The maximum raise an employee could see is about $2,000 and only would apply to a teacher with more than 24 years in the school system with advanced degrees.
The raise applies also to administrator salaries. Priest said the district is in good financial standing and that the state indicates an increase in funding for the next fiscal year. The raise amount will add about $1.8 million to the district's recurring expenses.
Additionally, all classified staff who are paid by the hour will receive raises. Included in the Board's decision is a move to make base secretary pay at the Elementary schools equal to base secretary pay at the Middle and High schools.
Priest said though there are more students at the Middle and High school campuses, there are also more secretaries. He felt pay equalization was due.
Male athletes will have an opportunity beginning in the fall to compete on a swim team for the first time since the program was cut 12 years ago.
Athletic Director Kent Keith estimated an annual expense of around $7,000 to pay for a coach, entry fees, and other associated costs.
Keith said a recent survey of the community, consisting of parents and students, resulted in 340 supporting a boys swim team, 24 maybes, and 16 saying no.
Poplar Bluff R-1 Board of Education President John Scott said a boys swim program "is long overdue" at Poplar Bluff.
"We're a big school, we should have it," Scott said. "It's just time."
Poplar Bluff started swimming for both boys and girls during the 2002-03 school year. The boys were the first to compete in Dec. 2002, hosting their first meet in Jan. 2003 at the Black River Coliseum pool.
The boys competed for four seasons until schools in MSHSAA, the Missouri State High School Activities Association, voted to switch the seasons for the sport. The boys moved from the winter to the fall and the girls from the spring to the winter.
Prior to the 2006-07 school year, Poplar Bluff's boys and girls swim coach Suzanne Schneider, a retired teacher who started the program, stepped down. With the switch of seasons and no coach, the boys did not compete and the girls team was in jeopardy of folding as well until Beth Lewis-Muse was hired.
Under Lewis-Muse, who also coaches cross country in the fall and track in the spring, the girls team went from finishing last in the conference to winning the title in 2016. The Mules have had a state qualifier in each of the last six seasons. Of the six area schools that compete in girls swimming, Poplar Bluff is the only one without a boys team.
Poplar Bluff never had a boy qualify for the state championship meet in four seasons.
Boys could swim in the AAU summer program with the Poplar Bluff Piranhas or during the school year in either AAU or USA Swimming regional meets, traveling as far as St. Louis or Memphis.
Poplar Bluff boys also participate in football, cross country and soccer during the fall.
Keith said Lewis-Muse will not coach the boys swim team, as she will remain with cross county during the fall season. He said Julia Dragon, currently an assistant coach for the girls team, will likely lead the program.
Also Thursday, retired O'Neal Elementary Principal Lorenzo Sandlin received recognition for beginning fundraising efforts nearly 30 years ago for St. Judes Childrens Hospital.
Since 1989, students at Poplar Bluff have raised more than $1 million, said Superintendent Dr. Scott Dill.
"We have to date donated $1,012,401 dollars and 51 cents," Dill said.
"We'll go for that next million right away," he added.
The tuition rate for out-of-district students to attend Poplar Bluff Schools was approved at $9,800 per year.
Board members also discussed physical therapy services at the Junior High and High School and a potential Cingular cell phone tower to be positioned on school district property.
The next Poplar Bluff R-1 Board of Education meeting will begin at 7 p.m. May 17 at the Central Office Board Room, located at 1110 N. Westwood Blvd.