Board Approves Raise For Alexander

BROOKSVILLE - The Hernando County School Board voted 4-1 Tuesday to give Superintendent Wayne Alexander a 5.5 percent pay raise.

But Vice Chairman Jim Malcolm voted against it, predicting trouble down the road when negotiations begin for salaries of teachers and administrators.

Malcolm said he would rather see Alexander wait until the end of the summer, when state and district budget figures are in. He said he fears a raise would set precedence the board can't live up to.

"I'm just afraid that we're going to start with a 5.5 percent raise, then turn to others in the district and say, 'there is no money for you to get a raise," he said. "I think accepting that right now would be premature, and I'm disappointed that we're being called upon to do that."

Alexander, who has been with the district nearly 11 months, will see his base salary jump from $119,000 to $125,545 and an increase of his current monthly gasoline budget from $500 to $600 per month.

The gasoline budget will also count toward part of his retirement plan, bringing his total gross salary to $132,745.

He will also be allowed to teach college courses on weekends, previously prohibited by his contract.

Malcolm, who said he asked Alexander both publicly and privately to delay seeking a raise until the board's budget discussions begin, said he is not against extending Alexander's contract, only the timing of the request.

"We just gave our teachers a 6.04 percent raise and our administrators a 5.5 percent raise, and we didn't settle (those contracts) until January," he said. "We're not even close to getting into serious bargaining discussions until this summer, and now we're going ahead and giving the raise before we even know what our full revenue stream is."

Historically, the board has always given the superintendent the same percentage of salary increase offered to other district administrators.

Board member Pat Fagan supported the 5.5 percent increase and one-year contract renewal, but said he felt the district should stick with Alexander's current $500-per-month gasoline budget and did not agree with including Alexander's gasoline budget with his retirement plan.

However, he voted for it to support the majority of the board, he said.

This was actually Alexander's second proposal, after his initial request of a requested raise of nearly 14 percent and a $950-per-month gasoline budget garnered public criticism.