Highland OKs sharing deal with WACO

On Monday night, the Highland school board approved a one-year superintendent sharing contract with the WACO school district.

According to the terms of the contract, Highland Superintendent Ken Crawford will spend 70 percent of each week at Highland and 30 percent at WACO starting July 1.

'It's a 70/30 split,” Crawford explained. 'It's a day and a half (at WACO).”

The contract states that Crawford would be considered a Highland employee, with WACO reimbursing Highland for 30 percent of Crawford's salary and benefits at the end of each semester.

Crawford's salary for the 2021-22 school year will be $145,000. With benefits and other costs, the total comes to just over $190,000.

The contract stipulates that if Crawford's employment with Highland is terminated, WACO would only be obligated to pay 30 percent of costs for actual days of service performed by Crawford.

'If my contract ends, the 70/30 split ends,” Crawford explained.

For the past three years, Highland has had a sharing agreement with the Lone Tree school district.

Crawford has split his time evenly between the two school districts.

'This will put me in the (Highland) district one more full day,” Crawford said.

One Highland board member was against the sharing agreement.

'I voted for 100 percent,” board Vice President Megan Allen said. 'I want one year for you to get your feet on the ground.”

In January, the Highland board voted to offer Crawford a full-time contract, ending its sharing agreement with Lone Tree at the end of the current school year.

'I voted to have you in the district 100 percent,” Allen said.

Board member Mike Golden said that district finances drove the new sharing agreement.

'I'm of the thought that we're in a financial position to have to share salary,” Golden said.

Board President Nate Robinson agreed, saying, 'That's become the new normal here.”

The vote was 6-1 to approve the sharing agreement with WACO, with Allen as the lone dissenter.

The agreement must still be approved by the WACO school board.

As of Tuesday afternoon, consideration of the agreement was not listed on the posted agenda for the board's March 15 meeting.