Chris Payne went from executive director of communications to a director of communications at a salary decrease of about $24,000 to $94,400.

But with 35 newly created administrative positions unfilled, there is still potential for administrative salary increases to rise from the current total of $243,000.

Ferguson-Palmer said teachers want to know why dollars spent on administrative salary hikes couldn’t be used to buy back more teaching positions.

In early May, the school board approved the elimination of 142 teaching positions — significantly increasing class sizes — to reduce the district’s budget by $8 million.

After the Oklahoma Legislature finalized its budget for the new fiscal year, TPS dialed back its budget cuts, restoring 42 of the previously eliminated teaching positions. That move reduced the overall budget savings from teacher reductions by $3.2 million.

Across the district, 50 out of 75 traditional school sites saw their allocated number of teacher positions reduced from .13, which is a “partial allocation” usually for a fine arts teacher shared by numerous elementary schools, to as high as 5.5 at Memorial High School, 6 at Edison Preparatory School’s high school and 8 at Booker T. Washington High School.

“We have expressed our concern and we always get the same answer: ‘We’ve combined jobs, we’re doing more with less.’ Teachers do more with less every year,” Ferguson-Palmer said. “It’s one of those areas where management and the union are probably never going to be on same page. But this time, I’m sure McLain and Hale and East Central could use some extra teachers.”

Andrea Eger 918-581-8470 andrea.eger@tulsaworld.com

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