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Central High district to consider altering board members’ salaries

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BY DENEEN SMITH

dsmith@kenoshanews.com

Central High School District will hold a special electors meeting Feb. 16 to consider board members’ salaries.

Prior to that vote, officers on the board received annual salaries of $2,400, members $2,180.

In January, resident Mike Cassity presented a petition with 115 signatures asking for a special electors meeting to reconsider the issue. Cassity said restoring the salaries “would be a sign of respect for the board and all the work they do.”

At the annual meeting, resident Darrel Damon made the motion to eliminate the salaries.

“It was more of a symbol, more than anything else, that the board was sending a signal that they were doing what they could to control costs,” he said, saying he would see it as a sign of respect to taxpayers if the salaries remained set at zero.

“I understand Mr. Cassity’s viewpoint, and I think it’s valid, but I think it’s valid the other way too,” Damon said.

Administrator Scott Pierce said the special electors meeting will be similar to an annual meeting, with the election of a chairperson and selection of a parliamentarian.

Only two issues are on the agenda, a statement about the Highway 83 intersection with the new school entry, and the petition for the reconsideration of board salaries.

“Our legal counsel said if people presented us with a petition we had to hold a meeting,” Pierce said.

Many Central residents were angry when their most recent property taxes for the district climbed 20 to 40 percent. Central’s levy increased by 18.4 percent, that increase combining with changing property values and a decline in the state’s school levy tax credit, to create large percentage increases in the overall school tax.

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