PW-S coaches, advisers receive raises, pay cuts

For the first time in more than 20 years, the Port Washington-Saukville School District has adopted a new extracurricular pay scale that provides raises for some coaches and activity advisers and pay cuts for others.

It also provides stipends for advisers who until now were not paid.

The School Board voted unanimously last week to approve the new extracurricular stipend scale, although some members had reservations about the impact of the pay cuts and the equity of a system that compensates coaches differently than club and activity advisers.

The new pay scale is the result of a more-than-year-long audit that compared the stipends the Port Washington-Saukville School District pays to those offered by other area districts, particularly the Grafton, Cedarburg and Plymouth districts, Director of Business Services and Human Resources Mel Nettesheim told the board.

“These three districts are very similar in size, they have very similar programming and they have a similar amount of staff that support (extracurricular activities),” she said.

The goal, Nettesheim said, was to bring the district in line with other area school systems and, where possible, pay coaches and advisers slightly more than those other districts.

“We want to be competitive with local school districts when it comes to being able to retain and recruit coaches and advisers for our clubs,” she said. “We want the best of the best.”

The question, Nettesheim said, was “how can we be as competitive as we can without increasing the budget to the point where we’re in deficit spending for (extracurriculars)?”

The amount of money the district pays coaches and advisers is significant and continues to increase as new sports, activities and clubs are added, Nettesheim said. The total amount of stipends paid by the district typically ranges from $185,000 to $200,000 annually, but the new pay scale will add $25,000 to that amount, she said, noting that the amount of money paid to coaches and advisers at the high school alone will increase to $217,000.

“It’s a lot of money for us,” Nettesheim said. “We’re talking about six figures just for the high school.”

Port High accounts for most of the extracurricular stipend spending because it has more sports and activities than Thomas Jefferson Middle School. Under the new pay scale the high school’s head varsity football and boys and girls’ basketball coaches will receive $189 increases, making them the highest paid coaches in the district with $3,800 per-season stipends. Their assistants and junior varsity coaches in these sports, however, will have their pay cut slightly.

The stipends paid to head varsity coaches of other sports will be cut by $325 to bring them to $3,286. These sports include boys’ and girls’ soccer, track and field, cross country and swimming, as well as wrestling, baseball and softball. The pay for the girls’ volleyball coach will also be decreased by $325 for a stipend of $3,286. The same amount will be paid to the head coach for boys’ volleyball, which is new to the high school this year.

The coaches of some other sports — boys’ and girls’ diving and gymnastics — will receive significant increases of $806 and $688 respectively because their pay was significantly lower than their counterparts in other districts.

The audit also revealed a few instances in which the stipends paid to activity advisers were considerably higher than other districts pay their counterparts. For instance, the esports (electronic sports) adviser, who is currently paid $3,611 a year, will take a $2,186 cut to bring the stipend to $1,425. The yearbook adviser, who was also paid $3,600 annually, will take a $1,366 pay cut.

“I have talked with a few individuals who are getting decreases and it’s been a very positive conversation because they recognize that the reason some people have to take decreases is to extend increases to others or even just have a stipend for those who have been volunteering,” Nettesheim said. “A few of them actually wanted a further decrease if it meant their assistants could get more, although I know that won’t be the case with everyone.”

Notably, the new pay scale provides first-time stipends for advisers of a number of activities such as the chess club and math team who have not been paid previously or have been paid a small hourly wage. Among those is the director of the extracurricular a cappella group Focus, who parents have repeatedly called on the School Board to pay.

“Some of these individuals were volunteering their time and weren’t being compensated even though there’s a significant amount of time going into these activities,” Nettesheim said. “They’re just doing it out of the goodness of their hearts, and we want to make sure they’re being compensated.”

The new pay scale won’t affect coaches and advisers of fall sports and activities until the 2025-26 school year because the season is underway, but it will impact all other coaches and advisers this school year.

The stipend decrease for coaches and advisers who are receiving a cut of 10% or more will be phased in over the next two school years “because that’s a huge hit for one school year and we recognize that,” Nettesheim said.

But School Board member Elisa Pionek said she is concerned about the new pay scale because it delivers a blow to some coaches and advisers that may result in them quitting, adding that she was led to believe the decreases would be nominal.

“I don’t know if it’s a good look for us as a board to be taking this much away from people who admittedly are being paid pennies an hour,” she said. “I don’t feel good about it. This is small money for the district, but it’s significant money for these people, and I’m worried. What if they quit? What if our kids for winter sports don’t have anyone?”

Nettesheim noted that the coaches and advisers whose stipends are being cut significantly have been overpaid compared to their counterparts in other districts.

“They’re taking a hit because they’re so far out of range,” she said. “But they’ve benefited from it in our district for quite some time.”

Under the new pay scale, coaches but not advisers will receive longevity increases in keeping with other school districts,  a change some board members characterized as unfair.

“If you are coaching a sport, you would receive a pay increase for having experience,” School Board member Kierstin Cira said. “If you are (advising) a club or a musical, there is no pay increase for your experience.

“That’s concerning to me.

“It’s hard for me to differentiate (between how) experience with a sport is more important than experience in any other activity.”

Board member Stephanie Trigsted agreed.

If we’re saying in athletics it’s important to keep people in those positions, I think it’s also important to send that message to folks regardless of what club or activity (they lead) that we value your commitment and we’re going to recognize it as well,” she said.

Nettesheim said that if the district offered longevity increases to advisers, the starting pay for those positions would have to be decreased to account for the additional future pay.

The board appeared ready to table action on the pay scale but decided against it because that could delay long overdue adjustments, including first-time stipends to advisers who have been volunteering.

“I feel like what you presented us and the research that was done and the reasons for the decreases make a lot of sense,” board member Karen Krainz told Nettesheim.

School Board President Sara McCutcheon said the district should not delay long overdue changes.

“Honestly, I’ve been here for a long time and I can’t remember the last time we took a look at extracurriculars or there was an increase no matter what the sport or activity was,” McCutcheon, who has been on the board for 27 years, said. “There was a lot of thought and research put into this, and I think it’s about time we start somewhere because it has been a very long time since anyone has gotten additional compensation.”

Despite concerns, the board did not add longevity pay for advisers to the stipend scale but committed to discussing the issue further.