When the superintendent explained the request for $6.45 Million for full-time and part-time employee bonuses, he explained it from his favored position of equity, not equality.
The written request was from a position of Equality. All full-time employees would get a one-time bonus of $1,580, and all part-time employees would get a bonus of $789. Everyone in each group gets the same. That's what was sent out to the trustees in the board packet. That's really easy to program and pay.
But the superintendent said all full-time employees would get a one-time bonus of $1,000 net after taxes, and all part-time employees would get a bonus of $500 net after taxes.
That is different. That's equity at work, just as the superintendent and many on his staff prefer. The same outcome, regardless of cost.
The trustee-elect McKie made a motion that followed the superintendent's error right down the rabbit hole. And that's what the trustees approved.
I wondered if Dr. Harry Miley, the Chief Financial Officer, was having palpitations as he listened to the superintendent and trustee-elect McKie. Why didn't he interrupt and correct the error, before the trustees voted?
My answer to that question is that he probably knows he'd better not interrupt or correct the superintendent in public. Maybe not even in private. Miley is a good guy. I'm sure he likes his job.
So what if hours and hours of staff time will be required to program payroll computers to pay out exactly $1,000 net to full-time employees and exactly $500 net to part-time employees? After all, it's just taxpayer money.
If an employee gets more or less than that exact amount, will he file a grievance? What will that cost? Maybe some employees will file a class-action suit against the district for more or less gross pay than the employee in the next cubicle.
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