To the editor:

The USD 497 school board wants taxpayers to OK a raise in the LOB to fund various items, including a salary increase for its employees to help it be more competitive with other school districts in our area. Too bad they haven’t given us details on which employees would be the recipients of such a raise and how much of a raise they are considering.

Does the school district plan to give raises to all of its approximately 1,300 employees, or just active teaching personnel? Is this going to be a flat dollar increase or a percentage increase? How does the school district plan to pay for the salary increase in coming years?

Figures about how much would be raised by the tax increase and what funds from the state would be incorporated into a salary increase have been bandied about and a figure of around $1.3 million to $1.5 million is heard frequently.

If the school district gives each of its approximately 1,300 employees a $1,000 raise (or $1.3 million), the take-home pay for that employee would go up less that $90/month on a 12-month pay schedule, not taking into account the Social Security/Medicare burden all employees share. Add in federal and state income tax withholding and the raise is a mere pittance. Somehow, I don’t think that this will make us competitive with neighboring school districts. It’s just another burden on taxpayers that will not accomplish the benefits it purports to give.

Ken Meyer,
Lawrence