Kingfisher Board of Education voted Monday night to fill 13 staff positions and add steps to teacher and support staff pay schedules to boost wages for experienced personnel.

The four school board members present, including Jim Perdue, Charles Walker, Carly Franks and Dana Golbek, voted unanimously on the three motions recommended by Superinten dent Dr. Daniel Craig, following a 45-minute executive session. Board member Terry Payne was absent.

New hires at each campus include:

Gilmour Elementary School – Niki Black, secretary.

Kingfisher Heritage School – Amy Barnett, teacher.

Upper Elementary School – Kevin Hopkins, music teacher; Jacob Farrell, physical education teacher.

Junior High School – Timothy Winans, English Language Arts.

High School – Ann Niemann and Nicole Kippenberger, science; Dylan Blundell, social studies; Jordan Booth, math; Stacey McDowell, Spanish, and Carol Craven, elective.

The board also voted to employ the following personnel for summer work: Jeff Myers, Derek Patterson, Stan Blundell, Keaton Callins, Isaac Waltman, Timothy Winans, Mallory Kusik, Taylor Young, Jared Reese, Chris Combs, Dylan Blundell, Jacob Farrell and Anita Orozco.

Pay schedules for both certified and support personnel, which previously maxed out at 30 years of experience, have been expanded to add pay increases for each year of experience from 31-35.

Separate motions approved unanimously for both certified and support personnel also included retirement contributions.

Currently, top salaries for teachers with 30 years experience or more ranged from $54,299-$58,645, depending on whether the teacher has a bachelor’s, master’s or doctorate or is National Board certified.

Under the adjusted schedule, salaries increase with each year of experience through 35, when salaries top out at $56,799 for a bachelor’s degree; $57,982 for a bachelor’s and National Board certification; $58,721 for a master’s degree; $59,903 for a master’s and National Board certification, and $61,145 for a doctorate.

Support staff with 31-35 years of experience or more also will be entitled to hourly wage increases, based on the additional steps added to that schedule.

Public Comment

Sixth grade teacher Melody Kuehn, who has spoken at previous school board meetings, addressed board members again during the public comment portion of the agenda.

“There are people in the community who are not happy about how this whole situation has been handled by you all,” she said. “There is a man who

“There is a man who wanted to come here and do good things for the district (indicating Craig) but when he’s micromanaged to the point he can’t do his job it’s not going to work.”

In other business, the school board:

•Transferred half ($1,923) of the middle school library fund to the new junior high library. •Renamed activity funds

•Renamed activity funds to reflect the addition of the junior high and the renaming of the middle school to the upper elementary school. •Approved floor plans

•Approved floor plans and schematics for the new locker rooms, as presented by LWPB Architecture representatives. The approval will allow the firm to proceed with price estimates but the board reserved the right to approve revised designs at a later date.

•Approved payment of property and liability insurance premium to Oklahoma Schools Insurance group in the amount of $417,019.

•Approved renewal of the school nutrition contract with OPAA! Craig said it was the fourth year of a four-year renewable contract and the district will be seeking new bids next year.

•Approved a mowing and flower bed maintenance contract with the Grounds Guys, the only bidder, for $69,561.65.

•Approved a number of other annual contract renewals.

•Approved student out-of-town trip and fundraiser requests.

•Voted to surplus a number of unused and/or outdated items from every campus for disposal or sale.