With labor contract re-negotiations by the Morgan Hill
Federation of Teachers and the Morgan Hill Unified School District
underway, district coaches are worried about potential cuts to
their stipends.
Morgan Hill – With labor contract re-negotiations by the Morgan Hill Federation of Teachers and the Morgan Hill Unified School District underway, district coaches are worried about potential cuts to their stipends.
Live Oak High School football coach Glen Webb has told school trustees that, although he is not sure what the district has in mind when reopening a portion of the contract that deals with stipends for coaches, he hopes they’ll protect the quality of the extra curricular student programs.
“After all, where else in the budget does anyone put in hundreds of hours both funding and providing student services for what amounts to minimum wage or less,” he said.
Most district coaches are teachers. Their labor contract gives them the stipends for extra duties outside the classroom, but the amounts don’t go far, according to coaches.
Stipends are given to coaches based on three factors, the type of program, their position in the program and the number of years they have in that program. Some coaches receive $1,321 per season in stipend money. Others can receive less or more.
Sobrato High School head football Coach Dan Brown has told trustees that most coaches spend a lot of their own money to support their programs.
Sobrato High School Athletic Director Dennis Martin, who has been a part of the district since 1971, said resources and support for athletic programs has decreased over the years. He’s asked the district to “keep the status quo,” and not cut coaching stipends.
MHUSD Assistant Superintendent Jay Totter has said that any discussions about cutting stipends is premature.
“When the district did our openers, we made proposals regarding certain areas of interest, and one of those broad areas of interest included article 5.15, which talked about coaching assignments,” Totter said. “We haven’t made any more comments about that issue, and at this time have had no negotiations. We have no schedule for negotiations yet.”
