Published: July 02, 2009 05:00 pm      

"Payday" will mean something different for county educators

Employees of the Cumberland County School System will see a change in the way their salaries are paid beginning in August.

Following an agreement with the Cumberland County Education Association, employees will have the option of being paid on a 20 or 24 check basis instead of 26 pay periods.

"Pay days have routinely been every other Friday. Occasionally there is an opportunity for 27 'payday' Fridays," Director of Schools Aarona VanWinkle explained during the June 25 meeting of the Cumberland County Board of Education meeting. "Since teachers' pay is based on the 26 pay periods, this can cause a gap of four weeks between the teacher's last pay and the first pay for the new school year."

The school system will pay all certified employees on the 15th and the last day of each month. Should the pay day fall on a non-work day, certified personnel will be paid on the last Central Office business day before that date.

"This change in procedure will assist our certified personnel to ensure that they will receive a pay check on a consistent basis and should eliminate two pay periods from the finance payroll staff," VanWinkle wrote.

The new pay schedule will begin in August.

In other business, the board approved the cancellation of a contract for physical therapy services and approved a contract with a new provider.

Plateau Physical Therapy notified the school system May 5 it would be unable to provide physical therapy services during the 2009-2010 school year due to staffing issues. A contract with Stephanie Mayo, PT, was approved for the coming school year at the same rate as provided for in the previous contract.

Scholastic Insurors, Inc. was selected as the provider of accident insurance for the 2009-2010 school year.

Several school trips were approved. The Cumberland County High School Renaissance Committee will be attending its organization's national convention July 17-19 in Orlando, FL. Seven students are scheduled to attend, with five adult chaperones.

The Stone Memorial High School boys basketball team had its June 19-20 trip to basketball camp in Gallatin, TN, approved. The SMHS wrestling team will be traveling to Blacksburg, VA for a four-day camp July 16-19.

School fundraisers were also approved at Crab Orchard Elementary, North Cumberland Elementary and Pleasant Hill Elementary. A request for a fundraiser at Brown Elementary was tabled until information on the amount of profit the school would receive was available. School board policy requires 40 percent of the profit be returned to the school.

A contract between Homestead Elementary and Taylor Publishing was approved for yearbook publication. Contracts with Life-Touch were approved for photography services at North Cumberland and Stone elementary schools.

Surplus computer equipment was also approved for disposal at North Cumberland and South Cumberland elementary schools.

Kelly King was approved as the junior varsity and varsity boys basketball coach for the 2009-2010 school year at Martin Elementary. Principal Christie C. Lewis confirms a volunteer application is on file and references have been checked.

Volunteer coaches for Pleasant Hill Elementary were also approved for the coming school year. Jamie McCloud and Jack Alderman were approved for football, Mark Bernabei for softball and Shane McCloud for boys basketball.

Bus specifications were also approved.