By DAWNE LEIKER

dleiker@dailynews.net

At the same meeting where board members voted to extend the contracts of several administrators, members of the Hays USD 489 Board of Education voted unanimously to consider budget adjustments for the district in its next four meetings.

Faced with 52 separate budget items for consideration, the board opted to discuss 13 items at each of the next four meetings.

Superintendent Fred Kaufman said board members would have a difficult time proceeding with decisions on the budget reductions without knowing the outcome of the legislative session. He suggested "we should be looking at ways to increase revenue instead of cuts."

He pointed out that enrollment is up and "if we start cutting programs, we'll start losing people," and that revenue could be increased a number of ways including increasing fees.

Judy Nixon, board member, said some districts have prioritized programs to add, cut or suspend according to available revenues.

"If you do that, you haven't harmed anyone," said board member Greg Schwartz, suggesting the board conduct a hearing or presentation on budget items that could be considered for elimination.

He went on to say the board's consideration of individual items could give the public an opportunity to give their opinion regarding district priorities.

Richard Kraemer said it is important to discuss all budgetary issues but in particular, issues such as all-day kindergarten, block scheduling and salary reductions. He said issues such as these particularly affect the constituency of USD 489.

With Schwartz and Darren Schumacher dissenting, the board voted 5-2 to extend principal contracts for the 2010-11 school year. Sharon Befort, board president, said the contract extension "doesn't have anything to do with their salaries" and did not include salary increases.

Contracts were approved for:

* Hays High School -- Michael Hester, principal, $102,268; Martin Straub, vice principal, $87,148; Tom Albers, vice principal, $85,215; and Clint Albers, vice principal/athletic director, $83,971.

* Felten Middle School -- Craig Pallister, principal, $94,458; Shanna Dinkel, vice principal, $74,500.

* Kennedy Middle School -- Lee Keffer, principal, $86,983

* Elementary schools -- Elaine Rohleder, Lincoln principal, $81,513; Nancy Harman, O'Loughlin principal, $81,513; Janci Kugler-Mills, Roosevelt principal, $81,513; Allen Park, Washington principal, $81,513; Tom Meagher, Wilson principal, $81,513.

* The Learning Center -- Anita Schlegel, director, $70,000.

* Head Start -- Donna Hudson-Hamilton, director, $80,636

* Hays Area Children's Center -- Doug Greer, director, $95,335.

Schumacher and Schwartz voted against extending the contracts because they said an approved instrument for the principals' evaluations was not used. The absence of a uniform review instrument violated board policy and the superintendent's reviews of principals, according to Schumacher, "are not very complete, just two paragraphs."

Schwartz said a uniform system of evaluation should be in place for reviewing administrative personnel, and his vote against the principals' contracts was "because board policy is not being followed. ... It is nothing against the principals."

"How can you make a decision on a contract if you don't have the evaluation to do so?" he asked.

Other board members did not see the current review system as a problem. Kraemer said the intent of board policy is to achieve successful outcomes.

"If you look at the big picture, we're doing OK," he said. "If it (the evaluation process) had a negative impact on outcomes, I might agree."

To illustrate frustration with the board not following its own policy, Schwartz made a motion to eliminate the board's policy manual, with Schumacher seconding the motion.

Neither supported the motion when it came to a vote, and the motion failed unanimously.

Schumacher asked that an evaluation instrument for administrators' reviews be added to the next agenda.

In other business

Hays USD 489 Superintendent Fred Kaufman said the administration has received no response from a letter sent to superintendents of Ellis USD 388 and Victoria USD 432 regarding consolidation issues. Kaufman said he believes the two schools have little interest in consolidating with USD 489. Kraemer said the superintendents there could be waiting for board approval before responding to the letter from the board.

Schumacher requested the board be given a copy of the bylaws of Schools for Fair Funding. He said he had requested the bylaws last year and never received them. Kaufman said bylaws had been unnecessary last year with only 13 members in the group, but with membership now at 72, bylaws had become necessary.

The 2010-11 school calendar was adopted unanimously after presentation by Will Roth, assistant superintendent. The calendar had been updated to move the ending school date from May 25 to 24, and add a holiday on Feb. 21. Roth said the calendar committee would prefer not to adopt the 2011-12 calendar until after the first of next year to avoid the possibility of having to amend it.

Finance Director Richard Cain presented enrollment projections for 2010-11. His report said USD 489 had experienced an increase of 82 students in 2009-10, 57 more students than what previously had been projected. The increase in enrollment, Cain said, resulted from in-migration and large numbers of out-of-district students moving to USD 489.

Projections continue to head upward during the next five years, with an increase of 22 students projected for next year.