By PAT NEWMAN
Staff Writer

Recurring gripes by some Fayette County school system employees over what they consider to be salary inequities prompted the Board of Education Monday night to take a serious look at drafting a unified pay scale.

Superintendent John DeCotis said a committee composed of 15 district employees from all sectors of the system was formed in June to solicit input from their colleagues. The group came up with a proposal last month which recommended contracting with a firm called Educational Performance Evaluation and Management Systems of America, Inc. for $45,000 to construct a unified salary scale based on job descriptions, employee surveys and individual interviews.

The board voted 3-2 to go forward with spending up to $45,000 for the in-depth study and have the committee review specific jobs to evaluate in order to shave a little off the total cost.

Board chairman Debbie Condon, Mickey Littlefield and Greg Powers supported the recommendation. “This issue comes up every year... we made a commitment to look at this,” Condon said. “I'd truly like it done before we deal with the budget again.” Condon added that she thought it would be “money well spent.”

“I don't agree with a lot of this,” said Board Member Woody Shelnutt. “It will just create more problems... This is a bad time and I don't see how we can do it.” He said the outcome would only trigger more pay raises.

Board member Connie Hale said, “The whole thing is skewed. It's absolutely crazy... $45,000 is a lot of money at this stage of the game.” She also pointed out that 85 percent of the total budget goes for salaries and called for an in-house examination of the pay scale. “I have confidence that the people here can form a committee and be team players, be fair and look at the whole picture.”

DeCotis said he had been notified by 61 employees who were concerned about equity issues, some of whom had also contacted attorneys. He said the district did not have enough “specialized expertise” to carry out the process of drafting a unified salary scale noting there were more than 100 different job titles with needs for specialized personnel growing annually. A smaller study was conducted about 10 years ago, DeCotis recalled, but was not comprehensive.

The board also agreed to contract with Joe T. Byrd of Insurance Review and Management for $4,450 to advertise and rebid the property and casualty insurance coverage.

The company will also review the employee benefit packages at a cost of $16,400. Total premiums for insurance, dental and disability plans cost the district more than $1 million annually. “We're talking about a substantial sum of money and it's important to get the most out of it,” DeCotis said.

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