EASTERN HANCOCK — The teachers rose one by one, each displaying a handheld whiteboard with their yearly salary written down.
Members of the Eastern Hancock School Board watched as these individuals rose from their seats in the crowd. They were just a few of many who share similar feelings, said Kelli Brown, an English teacher speaking on the educators’ behalf. Their intention was to add faces and names to what they believe is a glaring financial disparity that has been created in the Eastern Hancock School Corporation over the last several years, Brown said.
More than 70 people crowded into the Eastern Hancock School Administrative building during the board’s meeting Monday. Former and current Eastern Hancock teachers, staff, students and other community members stood together, voicing their concerns on the matters of teachers’ salaries and the school board’s most recent hiring decision.
The outcry came following the hiring of Derek Cullison, the high school’s new Strength/Agility/Fitness/Wellness Coordinator, in April. The board unanimously created and approved a new position for Cullison to fill, which pays $47,000 per year, plus benefits, said superintendent Dr. Vicki McGuire. Cullison, who does not have a teaching license, now assists instructing physical education classes and serves the high school athletic department in the training of various sports teams’ performance capabilities, said board member Mike Lewis.
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The board’s vision is to use Cullison as a resource to all teams, with an extended contract that will have him working 15 extra days outside the school year, McGuire said.
Cullison, previously employed as a Hancock Regional Hospital Health and Kinesiology Specialist, served Eastern Hancock middle- and high-school students part time as a conditioning coach in the past two semesters, McGuire said.
In the April school board meeting, he was hired for the 2018-19 school year as a full-time employee, according to the meeting minutes.
The new position has a higher salary than what is made by two-thirds of the school’s teachers, Brown informed the board, several of whom have taught at the school for more than a decade. Several of these veteran-educators stepped forward with their whiteboards — a 12-year teacher showed a salary of $45,839. An 11-year teacher showed a salary of $44,135. A 7-year teacher showed a salary of $41,937. A 3-year teacher showed a salary of $36,998.
The cost to the corporation of the new hire is $59,347 with the position’s benefits, making it monetarily more valuable than the positions of 42 Eastern Hancock teachers, Brown said.
Eastern teachers have long been aware of gross and unreasonable discrepancies in pay on the corporation’s salary schedule, Brown said to the board. It is the school board’s responsibility to ensure the fair and considerate compensation of employees, and their new hire in April indicates that they’ve failed to do so, she said.
“Although we have sometimes been alarmed, for many years these teachers have remained silent and steadfast in the face of perceived nonchalance from this school board,” Brown said in her address. “Tonight, we are here to break our silence and say that no matter how much we love Eastern Hancock, we cannot ignore blatant financial irresponsibility — as represented by your decision in April — that devalues this association’s teachers and robs our students of educational opportunities they deserve.”
Neither Brown nor attending teachers mentioned Cullison by name. They avoided doing so in the interest of clarifying that their public comment was not a personal attack on him, Brown added. They do not wish to defame Cullison or the work he does for the school’s athletic program, she said.
Several students attended the school board meeting in support of the school corporation’s teachers and non-athletic programs.
Shelby Kendall, a sophomore at Eastern Hancock High School, plays volleyball and is involved in the school’s show choir and theater programs. Even as a student involved in both sports and fine arts programs, Kendall said it’s upsetting to see the school board openly prioritize athletics by creating an unnecessary physical education position.
“I think it’s preposterous,” Kendall said. “I don’t like it all. That’s why I’m here.”
William Gibson, a junior, addressed the board directly with his own comment made on behalf of the school’s music students. Gibson wishes to attend Ball State University and study music education, which he said will be a difficult task because Eastern Hancock schools do not offer courses in music theory or music history. With only two full-time music teachers on staff, there isn’t time in their schedules to teach those classes, he said.
From the crowd, Gibson asked the board how the corporation was able to afford a fourth physical education instructor with a salary of $47,000, and why the position was given priority over supplementing his and his classmates’ music education.
After the public comments were heard, the school board responded that they were glad to hear the voices and concerns of people in the corporation they serve. Sometimes an honest dialogue from across the table is needed in order for them to do their job properly, said board member Scott Johnson.
There appears to be a misunderstanding in the time frame of the new hire, board member Mike Lewis said. The board feels as though the commenters implied that the decision to hire Cullison was done discreetly or hastily, when in fact they openly considered hiring him for several months, he said.
“This is someone who wants to come to this school,” Lewis said. “He wants to plant his roots in this school. He wants to bring his family to this school.”
During the April meeting, Cullison’s hiring, as well as the creation of the position, were added as last minute items to the agenda, according to the meeting minutes. After the vote, board member Scott Petry expressed concern over adding last minute agenda items to be voted on. According to the minutes, Petry said last minute items do not allow the general public knowledge of such actions being taken by the board. He asked that moving forward, these types of items be on the agenda up front so that people have time to respond — a statement McGuire agreed with, according to the minutes.
Moving forward, the board will consider every situation that comes along separately, and they will make a decision based on what they feel is best for the school corporation, McGuire said after Monday’s meeting. They appreciate the passion of the teachers in attendance, and recognize that were it not for them, Eastern Hancock schools would not have so many academic success stories to share, she said.
Brown said she hopes the board now has a better understanding of the feelings of the school’s students and staff, and that they will fairly address their concerns soon.
“We wanted to be heard,” Brown said. “We want (the board) to start thinking about some of the things that we’re thinking about, and we’re anxious to hear what they might offer as solutions.”
