Lee Pulaski lpulaski@wolfrivermedia.com
The Shawano School Board approved a proposal this week that is expected to attract and retain middle school and high school athletic coaches.
The board unanimously endorsed increasing the starting pay for most coaches as outlined by Shawano Community High School athletic/activities director Charmaine Schreiber. She noted that the high school saw a turnover of six out of 19 head coaching positions this year.
Football coach salaries will see a sizable boost. A high school varsity head coach who would have previously started at $3,390 will now start at $4,100 for a season. At the middle school, the stipend went from $1,695 to $2,050.
Head basketball coaches for the high school will also see a $4,100 stipend. Currently, the girls coach starts at $3,390, and the boys coach receives $3,792.
There are some sports where the starting salary decreased compared to what a coach was currently making — volleyball and boys and girls soccer most notably. The starting pay approved was $3,400 for those sports, but the current coaches are making $4,400 to $4,800.
Schreiber said those coaches have been in their positions for more than a decade, and once they reach that milestone, their pay can be increased to be competitive with other school districts. The problem Shawano is having is finding coaches willing to stick it out for 10 or more years at the lower pay.
The proposal will not decrease any current coach’s pay, Schreiber clarified, but will only change once a coach retires and a new person is put in the position.
The proposal also added a number of assistant coach positions to high school and middle school sports to provide adequate supervision.
Schreiber noted that attracting quality coaches was a key goal she had when she first took the job nearly two years ago. She said the retention rate for coaches at the time was 46 percent, which raised a red flag for her.
That number has improved to 70 percent, but Schreiber feels that is not good enough.
“These stats, along with some candid conversations I had with our coaching staff, with community members, caused me to evaluate our current salary structure,” Schreiber said. “By comparing the salary rates in the Bay Conference, I found we had the lowest base salaries across the board in most of the sports.”
The increased stipends will make Shawano competitive for hiring coaches, but they’re not the highest in the conference.
Schreiber also recommended increases for several non-athletic advisory positions. The biggest boost will be to the high school’s annual musical. Currently, the school pays $1,009 three ways to its directors, but the new pay scale will provide $2,750 to the main director and $1,700 each to the two assistants.
The SCHS student council advisor will receive $1,200, compared to $673 previously. The prom advisor will be boosted from $505 to $600.
Board member Bruce Milavitz praised Schreiber’s focus on all activities and not just focusing on sports salaries.
“It’s not always just about sports,” Milavitz said. “I see the real value in youth activities, and these really needed to change.”
The overall proposal is expected to add more than $40,000 to the activities and athletics budgets.
The salary increases for the middle school are expected to be offset by a $10 student participation fee the board also approved this week. Schreiber said it was too late to change the high school fee, which is currently $15 for one sport and $30 for two or more, but the district could revisit the policy for the 2016-17 school year.