Two administrators get 'salary correction' in new contract
Side consulting business prompts conflict of interest clause

By COURTNEY LAMDIN | Staff Writer
mireporter@mac.com

Milton School District administrators signed a three-year contract with a 2.25 percent raise this year, but two employees got a little extra boost.

Meagan Roy, assistant director of Student Services, and Scott Thompson, assistant principal at Milton Middle High School, both received an extra $2,000 on top of the 2.25 percent raise.

Roy will make $65,804 and Thompson $66,867. The total new money for each administrator is about $3,400.

The additional raise was published in a separate document called a “side agreement” to the administrator’s contract.

According to Anne Blake, representative for the administrators and co-principal of MMHS, the administrative team recommended Roy and Thompson get the raise to put their salaries in line with others in the county, region and state.

School Board chairman Doug Stout, who negotiates for the district, said the “salary correction” was to make Roy and Thompson’s pay more competitive.

The district typically hires less experienced staff for less money “until they can demonstrate that they are confident and competitive in that role,” Stout said.

These employees may contribute a lot to the district but aren’t being paid competitively, Stout said. In Roy and Thompson’s case, the negotiating teams agreed to “intervene” and “correct that situation.”

Stout said the raises are not performance-based, which he defines as pay for meeting objectives.

“This is more a statement that … those employees are working out well for us,” Stout said. “They’re viewed as being valuable, and we don’t see an advantage in encouraging them to leave by not paying them competitively.”

Blake agreed, saying, “We want to keep people who are doing a good job.”

Asked about Roy’s raise in light of the recent Student Services audit that cited personnel issues, Stout reiterated that the agreement was based on competitive pay.

“If there are personnel issues associated with the performance of an organization, they may or may not relate to the performance of the individuals that are leading that organization,” Stout said.

“This is not a performance discussion,” he continued. “It’s a discussion of paying people … competitive salaries that they could possibly find elsewhere by changing their employment.”

Roy and Thompson will only receive the increase this year; in both fiscal years ’12 and ’13, they’ll get a 2.75 percent raise like the other administrators.

Asked why this year’s raise was .5 percent less than the following year's, Stout said there’s only so much money budgeted for salaries.

“If you’re giving some employees more money than others, then one way to try to balance that is to then lower the amount of increase that’s given to the group as a whole,” Stout said. “The numbers that came out of [the administrators’ proposal] are the result of negotiation.”

Conflict of interest defined

The contract also includes new language that defines conflicts of interest as competing interests that “influence or would appear to influence the objective exercise of his/her professional duties.”

In part, the item says administrators’ outside employment can’t interfere with work at the district, take place during work hours or influence decisions in which the administrator has a personal or financial interest.

The section was added partly because of Meagan Roy’s side consulting business with Tim Dunn, director of Student Services, Stout said.

People have raised questions about the business, DunnRoy Associates, LLP, but Stout said superintendent Marty Waldron looked into it in the past and determined the business is inactive and does not have clients.

However, DunnRoy renewed its name registration at the Secretary of State’s office this June.

On its Web site, DunnRoy touts its services to evaluate special education programs and to analyze students on the autism spectrum. The latter uses a tool called LODAM, or Lesson Observation and Document Audit Matrix, which Roy developed as part of her doctoral research as a Jim Jeffords Fellow at the University of Vermont.

Roy’s research sought to validate the LODAM tool by piloting it in 12 Vermont schools, according to the program Web site. It is also used in Milton, but Stout said he doesn’t think the district is paying for the tool.

He added that DunnRoy has not been reviewed under the current contract language.

Stout said other administrators have second jobs teaching at local colleges or other weekend employment.

The district’s administrators’ contract does not include an exclusivity clause, so employees can have second employment as long as it does not violate the new language, Stout said. His biggest concern is when these other duties take place.

“Any kind of work that would occur during regular business hours would potentially be problematic,” Stout said.

The contract notes that the superintendent will review any questions about possible conflicts. Any decisions made will be shared with the School Board.

Stout said this language would be beneficial to include in all district contracts.

“The question of outside employment shows up in almost every group of employees that we have,” Stout said. “This is really the first time we’ve made a concerted effort to get it defined and get it into a contract so that it’s clear.”

Other changes to the administrators’ contract are increasing the employees’ health care contribution by 1 percent each year, from 14 percent this year to 16 percent in FY13 and clarifying language about approval of time off and reductions in administrative positions, among others.