District awards bonus to more than 1,000

Richland 1’s ‘pay for results’ plan exceeds superintendent’s expectations, budget

By BILL ROBINSON - brobinson@thestate.com

Richland 1’s school board closed the books this week on a trial bonus-pay program that ended up costing nearly three times the amount superintendent Allen J. Coles projected.

Trustees OK’d the release of $696,566 from an emergency spending account to resolve appeals from 615 employees who believed they met criteria to qualify for extra pay. The vote Tuesday night was unanimous.

Coles proposed a “pay for results” program a year ago if students produced better scores on tests and other measures. The seven-member board OK’d the idea as an experiment and signed off on committing $1 million to underwrite it.

Coles’ staff produced a report this week that put the figure at just over $2.7 million.

“It far exceeded our expectations,” Coles said Wednesday. “I think that’s good news.”

Coles was unable to say how many employees received a bonus, but the number exceeds 1,000.

Despite grumbling about how the bonus-pay program was administered, the school board has given preliminary approval to a $253.9 million budget for the 2008-09 academic year that includes $1 million in what trustees now insist on calling “incentive” pay.

They also said they would press for clearer language about who would qualify before releasing future bonuses.

Group bonuses handed out at 16 schools included $150 and $350 to support staffers, while teachers received $1,000. Individual teachers with students who made significant academic gains were eligible for up to an additional $2,000.

The bulk of the money trustees approved this week went to employees at six schools: A.C. Moore Elementary, H.B. Rhame Elementary, E.E. Taylor Elementary, Lower Richland High, Columbia High and A.C. Flora High.

A month ago, board vice chairman Vince Ford said he was troubled that employees of five schools were threatening to sue the district over confusion about the distribution rules.

“This is a process that has caused a lot of problems,” Ford said.

Trustee Rob Tyson criticized the appeals process as taking too long to resolve. “It belittles people who have been awarded the money,” he said.

Under rules Coles’ administration followed, all school employees could have qualified for a bonus if their schools met performance criteria, including attendance goals.

Call Robinson at (803) 771-8482.