Board at LRSD chooses leaders, sets rates of pay

Covid sick leave extended

The Little Rock School Board on Thursday made Holly Brown the principal of Terry Elementary, a job she has held on an interim basis this school year.

At a special meeting and agenda meeting covering several topics, the board also approved the appointment of Cynthia Collins to be assistant principal at Wakefield Elementary. Collins is currently principal at Meadowcliff Elementary, a school that will be permanently closed when this school year ends.

The appointments followed an executive session of more than 1½ hours. Board President Greg Adams announced that the session was intended for the discussion of employee promotions and possible reorganization. Board member Vicki Hatter asked that the leadership at Parkview Magnet High School be discussed.

The board:

■ Finalized new pay rates for substitute employees, after-school employees and summer school staff.

■ Approved the extension of the employee covid-19 sick leave policy retroactive to mid-April, when it expired, through the May 27 end of the school year.

■ Authorized district staff to negotiate a contract with Mid-Ark Roofing for a nearly $1.6 million replacement of the roof at Jefferson Elementary.

■ Heard but did not immediately agree to a request from Central High NAACP student chapter members that they wear graduation stoles or cords in recognition of achievement in the student organization.

The board gave final approval to rates of pay for substitute employees, as well as for summer school, after-school and hourly workers — with summer workers this year receiving greater rates than those working during the regular school year.

The plan calls for the higher summer pay rates as a way to enhance summer school opportunities for students who have learning deficits due to the covid-19 pandemic. The plan calls for the district to use federal covid-19 relief money to afford the higher pay rates without restricting student enrollment or shortening the programs.

The summer pay rates would drop to lower rates — but still higher than current rates — effective on the first day of the 2022-23 school year.

According to the plan,

summer school principals would be paid $55 an hour, up from $28, and summer school teachers would be paid $45 an hour, up from $25 an hour. Custodians would be paid $21 an hour, up from $12. Classroom aides would be paid $17 an hour, up from the current $11.

But in the summer of 2023 and into the future, principals would be paid $40 an hour and the teachers $35, according to the plan.

The proposed plan also provides an increase in pay for substitute teachers with a high school diploma, from $85 a day to $88. A substitute teacher who has a state teacher’s license would see an increase from the current $95 a day to $108. The licensed substitute would be paid $135 a day if the person remains in the same position for more than 20 consecutive days.