Clarification from the Lisbon School Committee

TO: THE LISBON REPORTER
FROM: Prudy Grant on behalf of the Lisbon School Committee
RE: Recent LISBON REPORTER ARTICLE
DATE: August 19, 2008

The recent article concerning Lisbon School Department Central Office Staff is a prime opportunity to provide some important information.

First, it is important to note that the information printed is out of date. The figures are for 2007 and include the names of people no longer employed as well as the names of their replacements. The reality is that there are only 5 Central Office positions other than that of the Superintendent. Those five positions are also Union #30 positions which means that Durham is responsible for 30% of their salary.

It seemed that the writer was also questioning the salaries paid to top staff – the Department Heads or Managers – as well as the secretarial staff which supports the Managers. The truth is that at the top is a Superintendent whose salary is actually well below what area superintendents are paid. The managers are paid in line with, but usually slightly below comparable pay levels for the same position in area school systems. The same is true of the secretarial pay rates.

While five Central Office staffers may seem to be excessive, the reality is that over the past twenty years or so, school departments including Lisbon’s have been increasingly burdened by new State and Federal mandates, all of which require much more time to collect and report data. Those mandates include Learning Results and now Learning Results 2, No Child Left Behind, Special Education requirements, School Consolidation, School Funding issues, as well as numerous other reporting requirements which demand competent and trained staff to handle all of the data collection and reporting. Those areas are in addition to the typical needs of a school system: the Business Office, the Human Resources Department, and the Buildings, Grounds and Transportation Department. Each of these areas is specialized and requires competent personnel who are able to work independently. Some of the departments have a full time person while others share personnel.

I know that The Lisbon School Committee is proud of the entire staff which daily carry out their duties to keep the system running smoothly. The employees are valued and work in a system that believes that keeping them on board is to everyone’s benefit because retraining takes time and additional expense. Frequent turnover causes slow downs which usually produces waste.

Because Lisbon has been designated a Doughnut Hole in the School Consolidation system and because Lisbon is currently part of a school union, Union #30 comprising Lisbon and Durham, which will soon cease to exist when Durham’s status becomes clear, there will be a need to reduce some staff. Durham has chosen to leave Lisbon. Durham’s percentage of the total Union #30 budget is 30%. The Lisbon School Committee is beginning to study how those joint Union #30 positions will be divided when the break finally occurs. That will result in a limited number of reduced positions, but that is yet to be determined.

Citizens of Lisbon can be comfortable in the knowledge that their tax dollars are spent very carefully and that the Lisbon School Department’s Central Office staff is a group of outstanding and well qualified employees. If anyone would like additional information, please call the Superintendent’s Office (353-6711) for answers that are sought.