The Fountain Hills Unified School District governing board last week decided to uphold the current pay for performance plan, opting to maintain the current language and procedures in anticipation of expected mandatory changes in the coming year.

An annual item, the governing board took a look at the pay plan as an information and discussion item Wednesday, Aug. 14, deciding not to recommend any changes before it comes back to the group for official approval.

Superintendent Tom Lawrence said that a committee met in May to go over the current plan, but recommended no changes be made as state mandates will require alterations in 2014-15 anyway.

“The previous pay for performance plan model takes a broader look at the individual teacher and site,” Lawrence said.

“I think what they want to do is narrow the scope next year so that it puts a bigger focus on testing results.”

Lawrence explained that the current pay for performance plan has been in existence since about 2000, when Prop 301 came into effect.

“What each individual school does is create what’s called an ‘effective school plan’ or ‘school improvement plan’ based on the Arizona Department of Education’s standards and rubrics for school improvement,” Lawrence said.

There are four standards outlined within that rubric including leadership, curriculum, assessment and culture.

“Each school’s plan is built around those rubrics and, based on survey data, assessment data and what’s going on in the school, they will write specific action steps revolving around those rubrics,” Lawrence continued.

“In the fall, individual teachers meet with their principal to choose three to five predetermined indicators to measure their classroom’s success, and then teachers work to meet their criteria based on that plan.”

Those individual plans are then judged and signed off on at the end of the school year by each site’s principal, which determines the teacher’s eligibility for the extra pay for performance dollars.

According to statute, Lawrence said that in 2014-15, some of the Prop 301 money is going to be tied to student achievement, which will be based strictly on test scores.

Once all of those details have been ironed out, he said the pay for performance committee will reconvene and make any necessary changes to the local plan.