HPISD Athletic Staff Stipends. The Comparison.

The ACE fee discussion led to many questions, here’s the scoop on HPISD athletic staff stipends which range from $466 to $15,500.

While I’m certain there’s a logical explanation, some of the stipend recipients might want to be calling bull or getting an agent. I’m just sayin’.

  1. HPHS head athletic trainer gets $4,500 less than each of his assistants?
  2. Girl’s basketball varsity assistant gets $300 less than the boy’s varsity assistant?
  3. 8th grade girl’s coordinator (volleyball/basketball/track) gets a $1,400 stipend while the 8th grade boy’s coordinator (football/ basketball/track) gets $466?
  4. There are 2 HPHS head tennis coaches, one gets a $9,300 stipend and the other, $3,750?
By Merritt Patterson Oct. 5, 2010 | 9:36 am | 14 Comments | Comments RSS
14 comments to "HPISD Athletic Staff Stipends. The Comparison. "
  1. mk @ October 5, 2010 at 9:55 am
    Lovin’ the photo…can’t wait to see the comments roll in, lol.

  2. Cynthia S. @ October 5, 2010 at 10:15 am
    This make the next staff meeting awkward!

  3. Jake @ October 5, 2010 at 10:40 am
    Why make such a big deal out of nothing? There is obviously no mismanagement nor corruption here. Many reasons can account for the discrepencies in stipends (year of service, extra practice times, etc.) The next thing you request would be a line item budget for every single organization in the district… Why not spend some time and talk about more important stuff, like academic achievement of the schools (eg. The 16 National Merit Semifinalists and 30 commended students). Or try to elicit some parent and student opinions on the new HS principal or district renovations.

  4. AMD @ October 5, 2010 at 12:22 pm
    Wow, now we’re blogging about people’s salary information? I thought there would be some privacy concerns here? School financial information is a matter of public record, but you’ve crossed a line with this one. I guess the blog traffic your little comments generate trumps the privacy of employees. This is sad.

  5. joey p @ October 5, 2010 at 12:51 pm
    Jake & AMD, don’t HPISD residents have the right to know where their money is going? Why the defensiveness? If there are salary disparities, the district should address them. If these are just mistakes in the actual budget document, they should correct them. And there should be a line-item listing of everything our district is spending. Remember, it’s our school and our money!
    Thanks for your work on this story, Merritt!

    And yes, government salaries are public record. they’re often published in newspapers.

  6. AMD @ October 5, 2010 at 1:15 pm
    Joey, I really don’t need to know what the coaching staff makes. I’m all for information, but this was posted for it’s blog traffic value–not for some higher investigative journalistic purpose. I doubt most employees would want their private financial information made public to further a bogus “investigation” of the ACE fee. If you have proof of improprieties, print it. Otherwise, stop insinuating wrongdoing when you are operating on incomplete facts.

  7. Dirty S. @ October 5, 2010 at 1:57 pm
    This whole bit is getting really old. Just like almost any place of employment, private or public, some people make more than others. It could be based on tenure. Could be based on a greater number of extra hours. It could be based on expertise. It could be based on negotiation b/w employee and employer.

    None of this is really that hard to comprehend. I’ve been reading all of these posts, but it’s beyond absurd now. I’m done.

  8. Mr. Commentor @ October 5, 2010 at 2:36 pm
    Folks, just to be clear…this information is specifically related to the money spent on the ****ACE fee***. This isn’t disclosing salary information or anything else.

    If you want salary information, it’s already out there – in very public fashion: http://www.texastribune.org/library/data/government-employee-salaries/. I didn’t link directly to the HPISD references but they are in there if you want to see what your ISD, city and other officials get paid. Heck, take a look at any of a number of annual reports for local companies and you can find out what your neighbors are bringing home.

    I’m surprised people have such a problem with someone asking questions about our local government. Next thing you know we’ll have the same problems as Bell, California http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/09/21/california-city-officials-reportedly-arrested-salary-scandal/

  9. jp @ October 5, 2010 at 3:07 pm
    Thank you Mr. Commentator! Poor amd, he/she doesn’t want to know ANYTHING about money! Do not tell him! Actually, if you need money for anything, you may want to call him/her. He has stated in a previous post that if he can afford it, he will pay it, no questions asked!

  10. zoe @ October 5, 2010 at 4:02 pm
    Geez! Doesn’t anyone know what a stipend is?! It pays for new equipment, snacks, and all the extras that the coach sees a need for over the course of the school year. Every teacher I know has to prove the validity of every purchase with a receipt.

  11. former scot #24 @ October 5, 2010 at 10:26 pm
    thanks for the interesting expose! these stipends probably equal some school’s athletic budgets.

    FYI, here is what a stipend is:

    A stipend is a form of salary, such as for an internship or apprenticeship. It is often distinct from a wage or a salary because it does not necessarily represent payment for work performed, instead it represents a payment that enables somebody to be exempt partly or wholly from waged or salaried employment in order to undertake a role that is normally unpaid (e.g. a magistrate in England), or voluntary, or which cannot be measured in terms of a task (e.g. members of the clergy).

    zoe is describing reimbursable expenses.

  12. PatentLawya @ October 5, 2010 at 10:32 pm
    Ever heard of the term “rounding error?” GAL.

  13. Sammy @ October 6, 2010 at 8:23 am
    @ Mr. Commentator

    Perfect! There isn’t a better example than Bell (at least I hope not!) as to the result of the public not paying attention to the finances of their governmental entities.

    And the 5K racing, “disabled” police chief would still be collecting his exorbitant salary and perks if the someone in the press hadn’t investigated.

    I’m not saying there is one ounce if illegalities at HPISD, but every school district/city+state+national governmental entity should be able to answer the questions put to them and show where our money is going.

  14. jp @ October 6, 2010 at 10:41 am
    amen sammy!!!!!!

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