Terry Bishop & Dave Schenkel Shortchange Military Employees
Mitchell High School and Wasson High School both offer Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) programs at the schools. These programs are led by retired military officers and non-commissioned officers. Both programs have outstanding reputations. The programs bring esprit and discipline to the students who choose to join the programs. The discipline carries over to the classrooms.
District 11 has contracts with the instructors at both schools that require for the district to pay the instructors 1/2 of their military retirement pay. The respective military services pay the other half of the pay. The Mitchell Air Force JROTC program is led by LtCol (Ret) Woodfork, and the Wasson Navy JROTC program is headed by CAPT (Ret) Gintzer.
Beginning in January of 2004, Human Resource director Dave Schenkel began to ignore the contract with the ROTC instructors by refusing to pay them their full salaries. Just 5 months earlier, on July 17th, 2003, the school board had voted to increase the ROTC pay to meet the contractual obligation. The board was made up of only anti-reform board members at the time, so this pay increase was not directed by reform board members, who Schenkel did not like. On March 15th of this year, CAPT Gintzer sent the following letter to D11 school board members:
15 Mar 2007
From: Captain Harry Clay Gintzer III
Naval JROTC Instructor
Wasson High School
To: Colorado Springs School District 11
Board of Education Members
Subj: Pay Issue
Enclosures: 1. Board of Education meeting minutes 17 July 2003
2. Spread sheet example ICO Capt. Gintzer
On behalf of the Naval and Air Force JROTC instructors in District 11, I request that you review the subject of “Personnel Recommendations” in the July 17, 2003 Board of Education meeting minutes. It appears that District 11 has forgotten the benefits versus cost of the JROTC programs. District 11 does not pay for the Computers, Televisions, VCRs, bar code capable DVD players, text books, training aids, course materials, HUNDREDS of Uniform shirts, trousers, hats, shoes, coats, rain coats, gloves, rifles, flags, poles, stands, ETC, ETC. Many of these items are replaced every single year through 5 Government budgets that we are tasked to manage. District 11 doesn’t even fully fund the government computed “MINIMUM Instructor Pay” which is adjusted each January based on the standard Military Pay scale. The District is only responsible for ONE HALF of each instructors MINIMUM pay, and that expense is a pittance compared to the Military supplies, material, and benefits received.
It’s very clear that Mr. Schenkel’s own research in 2003 indicated that District 11 was far behind on compensation compared to other districts. I can provide records and logs that show the level of extracurricular activity by instructors runs about 140-160, 8 hour days, beyond the regular days in a school year. The agreement to adjust the daily rate from 182 to 210 was minor compensation for the work ethic we operate under, and no where was it implied that it would apply only to the last 4 months of 2003.
When the Government issued the new pay scale in January 2004, District 11 did not adjust, and our pay began to fall behind the agreed computation. WE have been bringing this to the attention of appropriate District personnel for nearly 2 years and have been totally “pushed off” until a meeting with Mr. Schenkel was arranged by Superintendent Bishop. At that meeting it was stated “there is no way that the District is ever going to keep up with Government dictated pay raises”. The CONTRACT reads differently. Throwing a $2000.00 ($166.67/mo) pay raise to each instructor was an attempt to appease rather than fulfill the previous agreement, and is neither fair nor equitable by military pay standards. Our pay is based on individual Retired Rank achieved through 20-30 years of service to the country.
If the District can pay $460,000 for one year of disappointment, WE feel it is not unreasonable to be compensated for 7 years of performance, above and beyond requirements, in accordance with the July 2003 agreement.
Thank you for your time and consideration, we sincerely hope your review will finally resolve this matter.
Harry Clay Gintzer III
Captain, US Navy, Retired
The July 17th, 2003 board meeting minutes to which CAPT Gintzer referred are below:
Director Kaiser asked Mr. Schenkel about the adjustment on the ROTC work year from 182 to 210, about 30 days more each year. What was the rationale behind this change? Is the district paying $39,200 or the government? Mr. Schenkel responded that there seemed to be a discrepancy between what our district was paying to ROTC personnel and what other districts were paying to ROTC personnel. In looking at the "MIP," a combination of government funding and district funding, our district was in the high $30s and other districts were in the low $50s. After meeting with the commissioned officers in our ROTC program, it was discovered that these employees were not working just 182 days, but were closer to year round. District 11 cannot pay them normal stipends. Human Resources then looked at converting the ROTC personnel to 210-day employees, which is closer to the actual days that they are putting in a year. In doing so, the salaries become comparable to what other districts are paying ROTC personnel.
As CAPT Gintzer pointed out, Schenkel did not flinch when Karen Teja and her allies voted to give ex-superintendent Sharon Thomas a $420,000 gift for getting herself fired from D11. Now Schenkel is going to refuse to follow his contractual obligation with these military leaders who actually do perform their jobs. As of October, the pay shortfall for CAPT Gintzer was over $17,000. He met with Schenkel, who told him that he had no intention of paying the ROTC instructors what they were owed.
Notice that Terry Bishop apparently shares Schenkel's disinterest in this issue. Even though Bishop was fully aware that Schenkel was responsible for this contract violation in the first place, he still refused to meet with CAPT Gintzer, but instead referred him back to the very person who is the source of the problem in the first place.
So what did the board members say to CAPT Gintzer when they received his letter? The majority of them said absolutely nothing. Tom Strand did acknowledge the letter, but he was busy worrying about his re-election and never got around to actually doing anything useful with the issue.
As usual, Dave Schenkel marches to his own drummer, and there has not yet been a superintendent with the courage to actually force him to do his job. It is not a surprise that Bishop would be ineffective as well.
D11 administrators throw money around to friends and old buddies as if the budget is a bottomless pit. When it comes to honoring their obligations to service members who continue to serve honorably, however, suddenly there is just no money left to fulfill the obligation. Bishop just received a $16,000 bonus, which is 50% of what was possible. The board handed him this bonus for showing no improvement in the district's performance and for completing 1 of 25 self assigned goals. While Bishop is playing with his bonus cash, he refuses to step in to help D11's military employees get the money that they are owed by law.
District 11 has contracts with the instructors at both schools that require for the district to pay the instructors 1/2 of their military retirement pay. The respective military services pay the other half of the pay. The Mitchell Air Force JROTC program is led by LtCol (Ret) Woodfork, and the Wasson Navy JROTC program is headed by CAPT (Ret) Gintzer.
Beginning in January of 2004, Human Resource director Dave Schenkel began to ignore the contract with the ROTC instructors by refusing to pay them their full salaries. Just 5 months earlier, on July 17th, 2003, the school board had voted to increase the ROTC pay to meet the contractual obligation. The board was made up of only anti-reform board members at the time, so this pay increase was not directed by reform board members, who Schenkel did not like. On March 15th of this year, CAPT Gintzer sent the following letter to D11 school board members:
15 Mar 2007
From: Captain Harry Clay Gintzer III
Naval JROTC Instructor
Wasson High School
To: Colorado Springs School District 11
Board of Education Members
Subj: Pay Issue
Enclosures: 1. Board of Education meeting minutes 17 July 2003
2. Spread sheet example ICO Capt. Gintzer
On behalf of the Naval and Air Force JROTC instructors in District 11, I request that you review the subject of “Personnel Recommendations” in the July 17, 2003 Board of Education meeting minutes. It appears that District 11 has forgotten the benefits versus cost of the JROTC programs. District 11 does not pay for the Computers, Televisions, VCRs, bar code capable DVD players, text books, training aids, course materials, HUNDREDS of Uniform shirts, trousers, hats, shoes, coats, rain coats, gloves, rifles, flags, poles, stands, ETC, ETC. Many of these items are replaced every single year through 5 Government budgets that we are tasked to manage. District 11 doesn’t even fully fund the government computed “MINIMUM Instructor Pay” which is adjusted each January based on the standard Military Pay scale. The District is only responsible for ONE HALF of each instructors MINIMUM pay, and that expense is a pittance compared to the Military supplies, material, and benefits received.
It’s very clear that Mr. Schenkel’s own research in 2003 indicated that District 11 was far behind on compensation compared to other districts. I can provide records and logs that show the level of extracurricular activity by instructors runs about 140-160, 8 hour days, beyond the regular days in a school year. The agreement to adjust the daily rate from 182 to 210 was minor compensation for the work ethic we operate under, and no where was it implied that it would apply only to the last 4 months of 2003.
When the Government issued the new pay scale in January 2004, District 11 did not adjust, and our pay began to fall behind the agreed computation. WE have been bringing this to the attention of appropriate District personnel for nearly 2 years and have been totally “pushed off” until a meeting with Mr. Schenkel was arranged by Superintendent Bishop. At that meeting it was stated “there is no way that the District is ever going to keep up with Government dictated pay raises”. The CONTRACT reads differently. Throwing a $2000.00 ($166.67/mo) pay raise to each instructor was an attempt to appease rather than fulfill the previous agreement, and is neither fair nor equitable by military pay standards. Our pay is based on individual Retired Rank achieved through 20-30 years of service to the country.
If the District can pay $460,000 for one year of disappointment, WE feel it is not unreasonable to be compensated for 7 years of performance, above and beyond requirements, in accordance with the July 2003 agreement.
Thank you for your time and consideration, we sincerely hope your review will finally resolve this matter.
Harry Clay Gintzer III
Captain, US Navy, Retired
The July 17th, 2003 board meeting minutes to which CAPT Gintzer referred are below:
Director Kaiser asked Mr. Schenkel about the adjustment on the ROTC work year from 182 to 210, about 30 days more each year. What was the rationale behind this change? Is the district paying $39,200 or the government? Mr. Schenkel responded that there seemed to be a discrepancy between what our district was paying to ROTC personnel and what other districts were paying to ROTC personnel. In looking at the "MIP," a combination of government funding and district funding, our district was in the high $30s and other districts were in the low $50s. After meeting with the commissioned officers in our ROTC program, it was discovered that these employees were not working just 182 days, but were closer to year round. District 11 cannot pay them normal stipends. Human Resources then looked at converting the ROTC personnel to 210-day employees, which is closer to the actual days that they are putting in a year. In doing so, the salaries become comparable to what other districts are paying ROTC personnel.
As CAPT Gintzer pointed out, Schenkel did not flinch when Karen Teja and her allies voted to give ex-superintendent Sharon Thomas a $420,000 gift for getting herself fired from D11. Now Schenkel is going to refuse to follow his contractual obligation with these military leaders who actually do perform their jobs. As of October, the pay shortfall for CAPT Gintzer was over $17,000. He met with Schenkel, who told him that he had no intention of paying the ROTC instructors what they were owed.
Notice that Terry Bishop apparently shares Schenkel's disinterest in this issue. Even though Bishop was fully aware that Schenkel was responsible for this contract violation in the first place, he still refused to meet with CAPT Gintzer, but instead referred him back to the very person who is the source of the problem in the first place.
So what did the board members say to CAPT Gintzer when they received his letter? The majority of them said absolutely nothing. Tom Strand did acknowledge the letter, but he was busy worrying about his re-election and never got around to actually doing anything useful with the issue.
As usual, Dave Schenkel marches to his own drummer, and there has not yet been a superintendent with the courage to actually force him to do his job. It is not a surprise that Bishop would be ineffective as well.
D11 administrators throw money around to friends and old buddies as if the budget is a bottomless pit. When it comes to honoring their obligations to service members who continue to serve honorably, however, suddenly there is just no money left to fulfill the obligation. Bishop just received a $16,000 bonus, which is 50% of what was possible. The board handed him this bonus for showing no improvement in the district's performance and for completing 1 of 25 self assigned goals. While Bishop is playing with his bonus cash, he refuses to step in to help D11's military employees get the money that they are owed by law.
posted by Craig Cox | 7:47 PM
7 Comments:
I hope this guy sues the district's arse off. These people have a nasty habit of screwing the only thing good going on in D11 while rewarding the criminals and dregs. Unreal!
Maybe the union can step in. The union would care about things like this, right?
First of all, the labor union leaders have a very negative opinion of the military, so they wouldn't help if they could. Second, the military pay is not related to the master agreement. Labor union leaders could care a less about the military pay issue because the labor union is not in charge.
Mr Gintzer should just be happy with what he has recieved. He is getting paid better than any teacher in the district. NROTC is great but, they need to find a better person to run this program. Just check him out.
Anony #2, notice that Anony #4 has proven my point. Dave Schenkel does not want to pay the military employees what he owes them because he is afraid that the labor union leaders will get upset about that pay. This other anony is one of those upset unionites.
Just be happy with what he received, anony? What if the district decided that they weren't going to pay you what the labor union contract said they should pay you, and this went on for at least 2 years. Would you just sit back and be happy with what you got, or would you call in your AFL-CIO buds to begin a labor protest?
When's the last time the local teachers union thugs actually had any dealings with the AFL-CIO? Have they EVER had any such dealings? The answer: no. You're trying to create a tempest in a teapot, talking about what happens in Washington and assuming (quite incorrectly) that those dealings travel all the way out to little old Colorado Springs.
But it's easy to understand why you made such a simple mistake. After all, your little klan managed to get Kenneth Starr to come out to little old Colorado Springs to do your dirty work, so you assumed that the teachers union thugs do likewise. just remember what happens when you assume, Mr. Cox.
When is the last time, you ask? Never, you answer? What does it say at the other end of this link?
http://www.aflcio.org/aboutus/jointheaflcio/nea.cfm.
On November 17, 2006, I posted a blog entry which discussed your recent rally in Pueblo with the AFL-CIO. You had pictures on your CSEA web page with members of the AFL-CIO. Your board secretary, on her Masooma blog, says this about your little rally with the AFL-CIO: "Last night about 6 board members for CSEA (including Tim, technically not a board member, but the Uniserv Director) went down to Pueblo to support teachers in District 60...There were also members of the Steel Workers union and the Teamsters there to show their support."
Ken Starr? I had Ken Starr in town? Really? Why wasn't I invited?
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