Cumberland County Director of Schools William Stepp is seeking to renegotiate his contract with the Board of Education — and he arrived at Thursday’s board meeting with a new contract in hand.
“I’m just asking, since my evaluation was above satisfactory — well above average,” Stepp said. “I think the board — most boards — would make an offer of some sort to the director.”
The matter was discussed under old business. Chris King, 6th District representative, sought to have it added to the agenda. After that vote failed, discussion ensued for several minutes, with the meeting stalling when another split vote failed to approve the meeting agenda. (See related story, page 3A.)
Stepp is under contract with the school board through June 30, 2025. The board has until March 1, 2025, to give notice if it intends to renew or extend the contract. No proffer of renewal or extension by that deadline will mean the board has decided against rehiring him.
Stepp’s request caught more than one board member off guard.
“Is there an urgency to extend the contract of the director of schools one year now?” asked Robert Safdie, 2nd District representative, who attended the meeting via Zoom. “There’s a whole year — March 2025 — before we have to make a decision on the full contract. So if there’s an established reason for extending the contract now at this period, I’d like to hear it.”
He and Board Chairman Teresa Boston, 8th District representative, said Stepp’s present contract would either need to be extended, or a new one would have to be drawn up.
“Are you proposing the new contract?” Boston asked Stepp.
“So when you negotiate, you discuss those options,” Stepp replied. “I’ve asked to renegotiate, so can we discuss options? We haven’t itemized anything. You don’t itemize when you do negotiations. Standard operating procedure on most boards that I have people that in my study council — when you do a director review, you also make a proposal to the director after that review if it’s above satisfactory or if it’s better than that. And you make an offer, an extension or something.”
That led to questions from board members Becky Hamby, 7th District, and Elizabeth Stull, 1st District.
“It sounds like you’re wanting an increase in pay based off the evaluation,” Hamby said. “I will ask again: Do we give our employees a raise according to their evaluation?”
“I didn’t hear him ask that,” said Chris King, 6th District representative.
Hamby continued, “He said the evaluation was above average —”
Stepp interjected, “That’s not what I said. There’s options we can discuss. When you’re above evaluation, the board usually makes an offer of some sort.”
Stull noted that the board evaluates the school director twice annually.
“So in every evaluation are we expecting to go ahead and renegotiate and do a new contract every evaluation?” she asked.
Shannon Stout, 9th District representative, said most boards make adjustments on an annual basis.
“A three-year contract helps provide stability from the get-go, but we need to have flexibility to change that contract as needs of the district change,” she said. “Or directions change.”
Stout asked how the board should proceed on Stepp’s request. The matter is timely, she added, given that the board is on the verge of entering discussion on next year’s budget.
“It seems to me that the appropriate order of the things that should happen are that the board should vote to extend the contract if the board desires to do that,” said board attorney Earl Patton. “At that point, if Mr. Stepp is not happy with the contract as it exists, he would propose the change in the contract and then the committee could be appointed to negotiate that contract. That seems like the normal flow of what would happen.”
He added, “One way or the other, if Mr. Stepp is going to continue working for this board, the board has to decide to extend the contract in some form or fashion. Now, if the board makes that offer, Mr. Stepp is absolutely at liberty to say, “I don’t want to do that. And here’s what I think is fair.’”
Negotiations on previous contracts have taken place through a contract committee.
“I’d like to work as a full board,” Stout said. “If we’re going to have a special-called meeting to look at the contracts and all, that’s a full board. I’d like everybody at the table and everyone’s questions to be heard.”
Added Hamby, “And if it’s a committee, we’re all going to be there anyway. We might as well do it as a full board.”