Citizen's group in Baldwin looking into recall of B-W school board

• Baldwin-Woodville Blackhawks

Baldwin-Woodville Blackhawks

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BALDWIN - A citizens’ group in western Wisconsin is upset that a school district used a budget surplus to reward its employees instead of giving the money back to taxpayers.

The Baldwin-Woodville School District in Saint Croix County gave $500-dollars to each of its 200 full-and-part-time employees just before Christmas. Leanne Rice of the Citizens for Responsible Government tells the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel that taxpayers won’t get a bonus – and her group is so upset, it’s looking into some kind of recall effort.

School Board President Jeff Campbell said teachers and other employees agreed last year to freeze their salaries, and pay more toward their health insurance and pensions – even though the teachers didn’t have to do so, because they’re still under a union contract through this summer. Campbell said the concessions helped create a surplus of about $100,000. He told the Baldwin Bulletin newspaper that the School Board had talked earlier in the year about the possibility of giving something to employees. That was when talks were being held in Madison on the new state law which limits public union bargaining.

Campbell said they have custodians making eight-dollars an hour and young teachers in the low $30,000 – and while they couldn’t get a raise, the board decided they should get a bonus. And he said there was no opposition expressed when the matter came up at a recent meeting.

Tags: news, wisconsin, education