Trustees press superintendent to revisit administrator salary approval process

During the Aug. 25 work session the School City of East Chicago trustees flagged a recently approved administrator contract and the district’s process for disclosing salaries for newly hired administrators. The board discussed prior practice and asked the superintendent to revisit the administrative pay scale and how salary information is presented to the board.

Trustee Gomez recalled a prior, lengthy discussion about the pay scale and asked whether the board needed to approve the contract again; Attorney Harris told the board there was no immediate requirement to reapprove the contract at the upcoming meeting. Multiple trustees expressed discomfort discussing personnel matters in public and asked that further conversation happen in executive session. Trustee Gomez said she would prefer the item be removed from the public personnel report immediately.

Board members reviewed the district’s historical approach: salaries were previously included on personnel reports but were later moved to HR memos after public concerns about posting individual salaries. Ms. Simmons explained that HR has provided salary information in memos that accompany personnel reports to balance transparency and employee privacy. Trustees asked the superintendent to check the administrative pay-scale document that had been revised previously and bring any proposed adjustments back to the board.

No formal motion was recorded to change the contract; instead trustees asked for follow-up work and for the matter to be discussed in executive session if a substantive salary revision is proposed. Ending: The board agreed to remove the individual from the public personnel report for the upcoming meeting and asked the superintendent to return with revisions or recommendations in a closed session or a future public agenda item.