SCHOOL BOARD EXTENDS SUPERINTENDENT'S CONTRACT AND APPROVES TWO ADDITIONAL RAISES TO $173,426

At approximately 10:30 p.m. at a special Hudson School Board meeting on April 15 your School Board voted to extend Superintendent Mary Bowen-Eggebraaten’s contract for a year. Her contract was due to expire June 30, 2014.

She requested a one-year extension from June, 2014 to June, 2015. Five board members voted yes. Mr. Bell was absent. I voted no.

I believe the superintendent’s request to extend her contract should not have been addressed until April, 2014 with input from the two new board members who are taking their seats in May, 2013. The Superintendent is the Board’s only employee, and these new board members are entitled to be involved in a decision of this magnitude. I believe the two outgoing board members should have declined to vote on the extension of this contract.   

At the 4/15 special board meeting your School Board voted to increase Bowen-Eggebraaten’s wages. Her salary for the year 6/2013 to 6/2014 will be $166,363.  Her salary for the year 6/2014 to 6/2015 will be $173,426. Five board members voted yes.  I voted no. 

At the February Board meeting your School Board raised Bowen-Eggebraaten’s wages from $146,409 to $159,480. Six board members voted yes, I voted no.

The State Retirement Fund calculates retirement benefits based on the employee’s “years of service and highest three years of earnings.”

The superintendent’s “highest three years of earnings” will be 2012, 2013 and 2014. The large raises given to the superintendent in 2012, 2013 and 2014 will have a direct and significant impact on her retirement benefits. 

Since December your School Board has approved the following raises:  December, $525,003 for teachers; January, $441,577 for Teachers, Support Staff and others; January, $103,225 for Administrators;  February, $12,071 for the Superintendent; April, $13,946 for the superintendent. These amounts total $1,095,822. 

Sandy Gehrke