Members of the Webster County Board of Education at a special called meeting Monday morning, unable to reach an agreement on how new classified hires’ salaries should be determined based on previous experience, agreed to a “pay freeze” for such workers until the school board’s next meeting in July.

Recently, Webster school district employees have expressed frustration to the school board that newly hired classified personnel (such as custodians, bus drivers, etc.) are earning more than long-term employees of the district, even if those new hires came from a different profession.

Board members agreed they needed to adopt a policy limiting the amount of experience that could be applied, but couldn’t decide what that limit should be.

A limit of three years and five years were both suggested during the meeting.

Transportation director Steve Whitsell told the board “bus drivers are becoming extremely hard to get,” and that the district has had to recruit former truck drivers to fill positions.

Board chair James Nance said he sympathized with the classified workers.

“We didn’t create this problem,” Nance said. “It was brought to the board. We don’t need that kind of anomosity among our people.

“I wish every bus driver made the same amount of money, but if you look at our budget, we can’t afford that.”

Board member Tim McCormick said he considered the current policy unfair, but added that he wasn’t sure on Monday what the experience cap should be for new hires.

It was also pointed out that whenever the district hires someone who has worked in the profession at another school district, they have to be paid for their full experience.

“Individuals coming in from other districts have to be hired in at the level they came in,” said Webster County school district superintendent James Kemp.

Before voting to freeze the hiring salary rate, board member Lisa Preston said she was concerned about taking such action, because of the timing.

“This is the time of year for hiring,” she said.

Assistant superintendent Rachel Yarbrough said interviews are set for next week.

The school district is closer to having a random drug program in place following a decision Monday to accept on first reading a policy that would allow for the testing of students and district employees.

Board members have contemplated the adoption of such a drug policy for over a year, going so far as to solicit bids from companies to conduct the tests.

Members reiterated on Monday their belief that the testing of students would not be implemented to punish or hurt students, but rather as a way to help those who are using illegal drugs and to improve safety within the districts’ schools.

Only students in seventh grade and above could be tested, in accordance with the law, and only at random.

Parents would also be asked to give their consent before their child would be tested, though district officials have proposed the random testing be attached to parental consent for their children to participate in school organizations and athletic programs.

In other business, Webster County school board members heard an update from Yarbrough regarding changes to the district’s two-year comprehensive school improvement plan.

While Yarbrough said the plan had very few changes, there were some things added to address district needs, particularly in math.

“We just want to show the state we are doing some things to address math,” she said, pointing out specific areas where the plan’s language had been altered to add math components.

The document also saw changes regarding its special education program, and other areas to help students in need, she told board members.

Board member E Carolyn Tucker asked if foreign language had been incorporated into the plan, to which Yarbrough said “no.”

She explained that the district is in the second year of a two-year cycle, and isn’t required to address every component of its education system.

Tucker said she would like to see that, as well as a section on humanities, addressed in the next two-year plan.

The board also discussed concerns about the state’s stance on the four-day school program.

Kemp previously told the board the state is conducting a study of schools various models’, including several the Webster County school district uses, and at his recommendation, the Webster school board authorized an independent study of how the district is performing under its current set-up.

“We need to stay on top of our legislators about the four-day school program,” Preston told the school board on Monday.

Others on the board agreed, and Tucker suggested the board advertise in newspapers positive elements of the district’s four-day component.

No action was taken on the discussion.

And, the board:

•set dates for its meetings for the second half of the calendar year;

•approved payments for a variety of construction projects, including a final payment to Lanham Bros. for work on Clay Elementary. Board member Steve Henry, who had previously expressed disappointment with the amount of time the project it was taking and in other issues, said Monday he was satisfied with how the company worked to resolve the issues.

“The concerns have been taken care of,” he said.

Board members also thanked architect Tim Townsend for working with the contractor to help get the issues resolved;

•heard an update from Kemp regarding the budget. Kemp said he’d received no new information regarding the district’s tax rolls, and pointed out “lots of things on the horizon” that make it difficult to accurately predict the district’s long-term financial outlook. One such issue is that of a possible merger with the Providence Independent School District (see related story);

•approved several consent items, including the awarding of contracts for various school services, a custodial supplies bid, and a grant awarded to Dixon Elementary for technolgy. District officials told the board that Dixon is the only school eligible to use the money because it is based on the 2000 census report, but it was also pointed out that the grant will allow the district to redirect existing money designated for technology to other schools within the district; and,

•approved a code of conduct for the 2006-2007 school year.

A list of staff changes was presented to the board for review, including the employment of Sarah Conder, Meredith Steiner, Pam Oakley, Melissa Winstead, Linda Gibson, Karen Parker, Vanessa Miller, Violeta Greenfield, Gwendolyn Orange, changes in assignment for Laura Lee Steiner, Julia Shelton, Donna Martini, and Darlene Winstead, and the granting of additional hours for Janet Newcom.