Cooper

The RSU 21 School Board approved a $9,690 bonus for Superintendent Terri Cooper at a special meeting last week. The vote was not unanimous, with the majority of the board voting in favor of the bonus.

The bonus, which covers Cooper’s job performance for the 2023-2024 school year, is just under 6% of her annual salary of $175,100.

Board members voted on the bonus following an executive session on Jan. 13. Five board members voted in favor of the bonus, three dissented, and four abstained.

Gayle Spofford, Leah Bares, Lesley Stoeffler, Meagan Michaud, and Claudia Sayre voted in favor, while Vice Chair Britney Gerth, Diane Franz and Rachel Kennedy-Smith were opposed.

Board Chair Matthew Stratford, along with members Abigail Spadone, Kirstan Watson, and Mandy Cummings abstained, as none of them had been on the board during the 2023-2024 school year.

The dissenting board members did not disclose why they chose to vote against the bonus, citing the school board’s policy of having only the chair speak on behalf of school board matters.

Cooper’s bonus comes after a period of unrest in the district. Throughout last year, residents voiced complaints about the district’s management, including the amount of time it took for a teacher contract to be ratified. The district went through protracted contract negotiations. Teachers worked without a contract from August to December.

Throughout that time, residents and teachers criticized Cooper, accusing her of not supporting teachers and creating a culture in which district employees did not feel comfortable expressing their concerns.

Sea Road School teacher Rachel McCarthy spoke at multiple board meetings last year, emphasizing the lack of support that teachers were feeling. “We are hurting,” McCarthy said.

Some residents in the district are frustrated with Cooper’s bonus, with some asking if teachers also receive a 6% bonus. The answer is “no.”

Resident Judy Desrosiers said the superintendent’s bonus is a “waste” of school budget money. “It could be put to better use providing for the students,” Desrosiers said.

Heather Battagliese said her husband, who is a teacher in the district, was denied two days of pay for attending a mandatory International Baccalaureate workshop in December. Battagliese said that prior to the workshop, her husband was told by the central office that he would be paid for his time. Afterward, he was told there was no money in the budget to pay for his time.

“No money for his own time given to meet an obligation of the high school, but the superintendent gets a bonus,” Battagliese said. “The district’s priorities are twisted.”

Other residents voiced their support for Cooper’s bonus.

Loreta Vallar McDonnell said that Cooper has made significant lasting improvements in the district, including championing a “rigorous curriculum review system” and finding balanced standardized testing models.

“Dr. Cooper came to our community during the pandemic and made employee and student safety her number one priority,” McDonnell said.

In an email this week, Cooper reflected on the past year and discussed plans for the district moving forward.

District-wide strategic initiatives were particularly significant in terms of curriculum development and operational effectiveness, Cooper said.

RSU 21 is now also one of the only public school districts in the state to offer universal pre-kindergarten education for all children in the three towns, regardless of their needs.

“This is almost unheard of in the rest of the state,” Cooper said. “We are proud to be a pioneer in this effort.”

The district will continue to focus on fiscal responsibility while making strategic investments in both operational effectiveness and curriculum development over the next year, Cooper said.

“Our commitment to excellence extends from the classroom to every operational aspect that supports student learning,” she said.