Lynn board vote upsets members

LYNN – Some School Committee members say they are frustrated that a majority of their committee voted to give a raise to the district’s business manager, who is already making a six-figure salary.”It doesn’t send a good message to people working in the system that we can give raises to our top people, but we’re asking them to forgo raises once again,” said School Committee member Richard Starbard, who voted against the raise for Kevin McHugh because of “the timing.” “It’s not to say that people aren’t working hard or deserving of it.”The proposition passed with a 4-3 vote. The committee members who voted against the raise seemed most concerned about the city’s teachers, who have gone without raises for years now.”They’ve had to do more with less,” said Starbard.Fellow committee member Maria Carrasco thought that the teachers, who actually deal one-on-one with the students, were more deserving of a raise. Carrasco said some teachers now have 31 students in a classroom in grades as early as kindergarten.”I don’t know how the teachers are going to take this. It’s not fair,” said Carrasco. “If you care about our city and our students, it’s not the right time to give raises.”Committee members differed on the exact amount of the raise. Starbard said the number went from $113,000 to $121,000, while committee member Vincent Spirito said it was only a $2,000 increase because McHugh gave up a type of insurance policy valued at $5,000.Committee member Donna Coppola, who voted against the raise, said McHugh could actually receive more than $121,000, because of his degrees and the time he’s been with the Lynn School system, and he has a “generous” car allowance for travel around the city.But Spirito, who voted for the raise, said McHugh has a “good track record” for managing such a big budget, especially one that could be the largest in the city.”Someone like that is hard to get in these times,” he said. “We wouldn’t want to lose him.”Committee member John Ford voted to approve the raise, but said it was a difficult decision to make.Ford has daughters who are Lynn teachers and much of his family is in the business of education, so he knows how long teachers have gone without raises. However, Ford said it would cost $1 million to give pay raises to Lynn teachers.Ford said he approved the raise to put McHugh’s salary in line with what other cities like Lawrence or Lowell pay their business managers.”It’s tough to give a raise in these times,” said Ford. “When he offered to give back $5,000 I thought he should at least be getting paid at the level of the surrounding comparable communities.” Ford added that McHugh is still below what most other school business managers are being paid.Coppola questioned how other negotiations would go now that McHugh has received a raise.”It doesn’t look too promising for other groups coming in to negotiate,” she said.McHugh couldn’t be reached for comment Friday.Superintendent Catherine Latham didn’t comment on the details of the raise, but did refer to it as McHugh receiving “an adjustment to his contract.”