Lawrence Township School Board Members Clash Over Teacher, Administrative Salary - Indianapolis News | Weather Indiana

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Members of the Lawrence Township school board have taken sides in the re-election bid of one of their own after a long-running dispute over administrative pay reached a boiling point.

Two board members, Wendy Muston and Amy Norman, have endorsed incumbent Crystal Puckett, while the two others, Jessica Dunn and Marta Lawrence, have thrown their support behind challenger Eric Young.

The notable division stems from ongoing disputes among the five board members over pay and academic performance. Last year, Muston, Norman and Puckett voted in favor of salary increases for Superintendent Shawn Smith and other administrators, including principals and assistant principals, while Dunn and Lawrence voted against administrative raises and abstained from voting on Smith’s contract.

Dunn and Lawrence have also called for greater accountability for academic results and linked the issue to administrator compensation.

The disagreement comes in the middle contract negotiations with the teachers union and at a time when school districts are facing challenges increasing state control over academicsas well as financial competition from charter schools And state-funded vouchers for private schools.

Now the issue has come to a head in the election for the municipality’s only controversial board seat. School board races are nonpartisan and positions are for four-year terms.

“Student outcomes will not change without adults making the necessary transformational changes,” Dunn wrote in a Facebook post supporting Young earlier this month.

Muston and Norman, meanwhile, say Puckett brings valuable experience to the board.

“I worked with her behind the scenes for four years. I’ve seen her make tough decisions,” Norman said. “I saw how she went out of her way to ask and understand all board members.”

Leaders of the Lawrence Education Association, the local teachers union, declined to comment on administrative salaries and have not made a statement of support in the race. The district is nearing an agreement with the union on the contract, which could be approved the Monday after Election Day.

But LEA leaders said administrative awards often come up during contract negotiations, and the Nov. 5 election only increased awareness of the issue.

“With the way the state funds education and the transfer of vouchers and charters, I think this makes us even more aware of how our districts are spending the money,” said Amanda Rose, co-president of the union. “If we have to work with less and less, we have to look at our expenses.”

But board members who supported the board hope a new task force to investigate teacher working conditions will help address some concerns about workloads. The district also launched an anonymous survey of teachers last year to solicit input on topics important to them.

“I think the district is doing its best in every way possible to listen to our teachers,” said Muston, the board chairman. “There is also a feeling in the district that there is division within the administration, and that division may also seep into our district. And that will not do our children any good.”

Board divided over administrative salary and performance

Board member Lawrence has expressed concern over the past two years that director salaries in the township are higher than in other nearby districts, and she believes this has created a large disparity between director salaries and teachers.

Lawrence Township’s average teacher salary of $64,854 for the 2023-2024 school year is in the middle of average salaries for Marion County’s 11 school districts, according to self-reported data published on the state’s website. Gateway platformincluding salaries and benefits. (Years of experience can affect a district’s average teacher salary; districts with a more experienced teacher workforce may have a higher average.)

By comparison, the average salary of $176,527 per year for non-teaching administrators at the district level is the highest of any district in Marion County, according to Gateway data. Smith’s total compensation of $389,808 for the 2023-2024 school year was also the highest of any Marion County principal.

“As a businessman, I could understand giving our administrators a premium salary if our district outperformed all other districts,” Lawrence told Chalkbeat. ‘But we’re not. And in many cases, we lag behind other districts as merited by state standards. That’s a problem.”

About 64% of third graders passed the exam state IREAD exam in 2024for example, at the bottom of all Marion County school districts.

Lawrence and Dunn also abstained from voting on the superintendent’s contract last August, citing concerns about his salary compared to leaders in other districts.

Instead, the two members have called for future administrator raises to be tied to student performance outcomes, which other board members opposed. Majority members of the board have alternately pointed to positive academic outcomes, such as the the pass rate of approximately 95% in the district.

Muston, Puckett and Norman have defended the difference in the average salaries of administrators and teachers, noting that administrators are required to work more days per year. Both groups have received about the same percentage of raises over the past five years.

Muston said turnover among administrators was high when she first joined the board in 2013.

“Now we have a very, very stable situation with our government,” she said. “It has, in my opinion, played a major role in the success the district has had over the last 12 to 13 years.”

Muston, Puckett and Norman also said they supported the superintendent’s pay, noting that under his leadership, the district’s enrollment has grown, as it has in other districts. difficulty retaining students. Norman also praised Smith for his role in trying to achieve that push the Legislature for more funding in a last-minute deal during a hectic budget session.

The debate over administrator pay, which resurfaced at an Oct. 14 board meeting after the LEA raised teacher workload concerns with the board, prompted Smith to voice his support for administrators in a letter sent to the was sent to them the next day. He said he remains committed to ensuring administrators and teachers receive fair and competitive salaries.

“This includes advocating for appropriate pay increases that reflect both your contributions and the economic realities of our district,” he said in the letter. “My position on this has not changed, regardless of any statements from the board to the contrary.”

Puckett said the topics Dunn and Lawrence raised are important, but it is “increasingly difficult to have a constructive dialogue.” She said she would prefer to use academic and payment information “as a flashlight, not a hammer.”

“It’s almost like a failure when it comes to the conversation around Lawrence (township),” she said. “Are we doing something good?”

Young, Puckett’s opponent, did not respond to requests for comment. But in a Facebook post after the Oct. 14 meeting, he said he is an independent thinker who will ask questions and analyze data.

Norman, who represents the Castleton area of the district, said all board members want to see student performance improve, but she hopes “we can respectfully figure out how to get there.”

The elections are on November 5. Early voting at the City-County Building is available until November 4, with additional early voting sites open from October 26 to November 3.

This story has been updated to further describe the average administrator salary.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at [email protected]