Decorah School Board approves amended budget; administrative, non-certified and staff salaries

In special session on Monday the Decorah Community School Board approved the amended budget for the 2015-16 school year. The amended budget is a typical end of year adjustment for school districts to be sure no budget line exceeds its limit – which could cause problems in an audit. Some line items (like adding special education staff midyear) increase beyond initial expectations, and at this time of year the adjusted budget lines reflect those expenditures plus an amount factored in for contingencies/emergencies at the end of the year. The entire district expenditure is expected to remain well within total budget.

In other business they approved salary increases for administrative, other staff, and non-certified personnel (administrative assistants, bus drivers, custodians, food service staff, school nurse, para-educators, coaches). The increases were consistent with the 3.26 percent package increase negotiated with the Decorah Education Association for teacher contracts.

Administration contracts for the District included:

Superintendent Mike Haluska, $165,850; High School Principal Kim Sheppard, $118,980; John Cline and West Side Elementary Principal Rick Varney, $100,385; Middle School Principal Leona Hoth, $97,585; Assistant High School Principal/Athletic Director Adam Riley, $87,880;  Carrie Lee Elementary Principal Cheryl Miller, $83,330; Director of Technology Kurt DeVore, $81,631; and Facilitator of Instruction and Assessment Dana Spry, $67,445.