Pay Raise Part of New Contract for District 196 Superintendent

The District 196 school board on Monday approved a new, three-year contract for Superintendent Jane Berenz that includes a 3.78 percent pay raise.

Berenz’s annual salary will increase to $192,000 beginning July 1; for the past three years, her annual salary has been $185,000. The board approved the increase on Monday night by a 6-1 vote.

The contract includes no automatic salary increases annually, board Chairperson Jackie Magnuson said, but the board could consider awarding them each year.

Magnuson said the aim is to pay the superintendent at least the average pay of superintendents in comparably sized districts. A comparison of eight districts showed an average superintendent salary of about $190,000, she said.

“She led the pack in doing exactly what we asked our employees to do” in taking a salary freeze in the past, Magnuson said.

It’s good that the board is moving Berenz's salary to "something that’s more reasonable in the marketplace," board member Gary Huusko said.

Berenz has done everything "in an exemplary manner," board member Bob Schutte said.

Board member Mike Roseen voted against the new contract, though he said it wasn’t because of Berenz’s performance, but because there are other deserving district employee groups that have not received raises.

“I look at it as a fairness issue," Roseen said.

He also said he believes accepting a pay freeze shouldn’t necessarily warrant a raise for Berenz now.

The district's 2009-2011 teachers and nurses contract gave those employees a 1 percent increase in all cells of the salary schedule, district Director of Human Resources Tom Pederstuen said after Monday's meeting.

Employee groups whose contracts were negotiated for 2010-12, including administrators, principals and building chiefs on the maintenance staff, received no salary increase, but still were eligible for step increases, Pederstuen said.

, approved in December, would allow teachers to move up on the pay scale based on education or years of work in both of the contract years, and would include a 1 percent pay increase to the top level of the salary schedule in the second year.

Board member Rob Duchscher said he supports pay increases for the district's bargaining units when possible, and for Berenz, who has "done a great job."

"She saved us more money in the past three years than we could imagine," he said.

Magnuson said Berenz’s contract is “very transparent.” It doesn’t include things like car allowances or bonuses that some superintendents in other districts receive.

Berenz’s contract also includes an increase in the district’s match for her 403(b) retirement plan, from $4,000 a year to a rate of 3 percent during the first year of the contract, which would match up to $5,700. The rate will go up 1 percent each contract year thereafter.

Berenz also will receive five more sick days and five more vacation days to contribute to her health savings plan, from 10 each to 15 each.

The District 196 school board typically holds regular meetings at 6 p.m. the second and fourth Monday of each month at in Apple Valley.