Ladue Teacher Evaluation Program Draws Fire

Possible changes in how Ladue School district instructors are evaluated for teaching performance may hasten the demise of the district's merit pay system, according to one Board of Education member.

"It seems we are making it more and more difficult to give merit raises," said board director Ken Smith. "I think we are putting the nail in the coffin of the merit pay system."

Smith was reacting to a report submitted to the school board during its May 9 regular meeting. The report, developed by the appointed teacher evaluation committee, incorporates recommended changes in the district's teacher evaluation system.

"Our goal was to take existing teacher evaluation tools and make them work better," said Judy Sclair, a committee member and district assistant superintendent for human resources.

But Jeff Kopolow, board treasurer, said that evaluations "are barely tied to compensation anymore."

While committee members said the report was intended to bring objectivity and clarity to the teacher evaluation  process, some board members indicated that they may object to a committee recommendation that certain teachers be evaluated once each three years, rather than once each two years.  The board may consider adoption of the report during its scheduled June 13 meeting.

"We're just slowly killing it off," Smith said of the merit pay system. "And it's one of the things that has made us (the district) great."

Susan Dielmann, district director of communications, explained that, while a merit pay plan remains in force, its effect has been diluted as small wage increases have been allocated in recent years. Superintendent Marsha Chappelow observed that lack of funds has prompted many districts to forgo merit pay raises.

Another committee report--this one on stipends and other supplemental pay given to teachers and coaches who perform extra duties outside the classroom--also drew some criticism for what Kopolow said is the institutionalization of extra pay for instructors. That extra pay pool amounts to $600,000 this year, officials said. Ladue teachers earn between $38,500 and $98,490 annually, not including stipends.

"Are we at the point now where everything we do...is going to have a price tag on it?" Kopolow asked.

The district's stipend committee, which consists of administrators and teachers, recommends changes in how funds are used to compensate staff members for work performed outside their normal duties. Recommendations also include development of a stipend handbook a listing of all of the stipends available each school year.

"We have to figure out how we can add more accountability," said committee member and elementary school teacher Donna Bancroft.

In other action, the board took no action on a recommendation by school budget officials that the cost of school lunch programs increase by 10 cents next academic year. Officials also announced that parents will  be able to fund student meal accounts by using an online service.

The board also recognized two high school seniors, Melissa Wang and David Bruns-Smith, who were recently named National Merit Scholars. Wang is heading to the California Institute of Technology, and Bruns-Smith plans to attend Yale University.