Louisiana Officials

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by JetMetFan

When the teachers get a raise, so do we.

Same thing here in Connecticut. No more late night contract negotiations in smoke filled rooms. No more picket lines. No more water cannons.

[Nevadaref]

Originally Posted by SC Official

"It's all about the student-athletes." What nonsense. I cringe upon hearing this phrase because we all know it's not true.

I hope the LHSOA doesn't budge. Let the fanboys officiate. What a fun story that will be.

Plain and simple, it's about the money for those who run the state organizations and the school district athletics.

Since Mr. Bonine is now a central figure in the Louisiana situation it would be informative to take a look at this part of a recent newspaper article:

By BARTT DAVIS
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL


Contractual obligations in his home state will prevent Bart Thompson from fully taking over as the executive director of the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association until June 15.
Were it completely up to Thompson, he’d already be settling into his new office in Reno.
Thompson, who was selected to lead the NIAA by its Board of Control in March, had his contract finalized during the board’s meeting Wednesday at Sam’s Town. Thompson was given a three-year contract worth $130,000 per year. He also will receive a stipend of $10,000 per year for vehicle usage.
“I’m thrilled. I’m excited to get started,” Thompson said. “I wish I could get started tomorrow. I want to get in the saddle and be able to ride.”
Thompson, an assistant executive director for the Utah High School Athletic Association, replaces Eddie Bonine, who left the NIAA to head the Louisiana High School Athletic Association.
In his final year, Bonine made just more than $150,000 plus a $10,000 car allowance and an $1,800 longevity stipend.


There is also this tidbit from another news source:
Bonine still getting paid?
Now-former Executive Director Eddie Bonine had nearly $2,000 of unpaid sick leave left when he bounced to Louisiana for the same job in March.
The Board voted not to pay Bonine for the sick leave but will compensate him for his remaining vacation time.

==============
Bonine started around $115K and received a $20K annual raise following his first three years. So this has all occurred during the past six years. Meanwhile the officials in Nevada received a single 4% raise which was delayed by FOUR years despite being contractually obligated (because exactly as some other posters have written is the case in their home states the NV contract calls for the officials to receive the same raise as the state workers, but one year later).
Yep, the Executive Director took a $20K raise for himself while informing the officials associations that state budgets were tight and that they needed to defer their raise until more prosperous times, then gave a song and dance routine (the school superintendents must still approve it--I can't [exactly what the La officials are being told]) when after three years the associations decided the time had come for the increase to go through, which delayed the officials money for an additional year.

Sure seems like the funds which were due the officials went directly into his own pockets!

[bisonlj]

Try to calculate a $5 raise for every official for every event. It will make $20k look like a very small number. Just for playoff games in our state a $5 increase would cost the state $50k across all sports. Add in regular season games and that number grows significantly.

[Nevadaref]

1. On a $50 game fee a 4% raise is $2.
2. NV has about 1500 officials in the entire state for all sports.
3. Say that there are 2,000 basketball games in a season. Perhaps half are 3-person. So $6 more per game for those and around $4 more for the 2-person contests. That's $10K. Of course, doing this for all sports will come out to much more than $20K, which is my point. The schools were happy to collude with the ED to stonewall the officials as it was well worth it to them to pay him a portion of what they should have been paying the officials. They saved a bunch of money and he made an extra $60K over three years. The La people better do some research and know what they are encountering.

[BatteryPowered]

While I certainly think officials should be paid a fair amount, Is even a 10% increase really so important that you would shut down for a season? Maybe it is me but doing the math from last season that percentage increase would provide $250.

Ok...I realize that is a camp for a high school official. However, I officiate because I enjoy it. I don't want to do it as a volunteer but if I just cover my expenses for the season I am happy. In fact, I don't even track that to see if I even break even. The game fees I get just go into a vacation savings account. I try to hit one or two out-of-town camps each summer so my wife can tag along and veg by the pool and we make it a little weekend getaway.

I don't know...maybe I am just weird.

[Rich]

At some point the officials have to draw a line. They've been fighting for this for YEARS.

[JetMetFan]

Originally Posted by Rich

At some point the officials have to draw a line. They've been fighting for this for YEARS.

That was going to be my question: How long have they gone without a raise.

Battery, it's no secret we do this because we're warped enough to enjoy it but I'm sure the money you've had to put out for that vacation fund hasn't stayed level throughout your years of officiating. Neither has the cost of food, putting gas in your car, etc.

[jpgc99]

Originally Posted by JetMetFan

That was going to be my question: How long have they gone without a raise.

Battery, it's no secret we do this because we're warped enough to enjoy it but I'm sure the money you've had to put out for that vacation fund hasn't stayed level throughout your years of officiating. Neither has the cost of food, putting gas in your car, etc.

It looks like there was a similar situation in 2011:

https://forum.officiating.com/basket...le-strike.html

I'd like to know what has happened from 2011 to 2015 (if anything). At some point, they have to take a stand. The cost of most things increases over time, so a yearly raise is actually less of a "raise" but more keeping your earnings consistent when adjusting for the increase of costs.

To go one year, two years, maybe even three years without a pay increase doesn't seem like much, but at some point there has to be an increase or you are losing money.

[BatteryPowered]

Originally Posted by JetMetFan

That was going to be my question: How long have they gone without a raise.

Battery, it's no secret we do this because we're warped enough to enjoy it but I'm sure the money you've had to put out for that vacation fund hasn't stayed level throughout your years of officiating. Neither has the cost of food, putting gas in your car, etc.

Absolutely has not. And if the think they fight is important enough...go for it, hope they win.

But the cost of getting to a golf course and playing 18 has gone up as much or more...but I still play occasionally and have no hope of ever recovering any of that money

I know many officials really count on the money from their games and work enough (games and sports) at a high enough level that they more than offset their cost. For me, it is just not that important. And while I certainly don't think it is a big enough reason, I would just as soon let the schools spend that money on something else. I understand it is not that much, but my daughter-in-law is a teacher and every little bit helps.

[jpgc99]

Originally Posted by BatteryPowered

Absolutely has not. And if the think they fight is important enough...go for it, hope they win.

But the cost of getting to a golf course and playing 18 has gone up as much or more...but I still play occasionally and have no hope of ever recovering any of that money

I know many officials really count on the money from their games and work enough (games and sports) at a high enough level that they more than offset their cost. For me, it is just not that important. And while I certainly don't think it is a big enough reason, I would just as soon let the schools spend that money on something else. I understand it is not that much, but my daughter-in-law is a teacher and every little bit helps.

If the money went to the teachers, I'd agree. But it doesn't.

[bob jenkins]

Originally Posted by BatteryPowered

While I certainly think officials should be paid a fair amount, Is even a 10% increase really so important that you would shut down for a season? Maybe it is me but doing the math from last season that percentage increase would provide $250.

Ok...I realize that is a camp for a high school official. However, I officiate because I enjoy it. I don't want to do it as a volunteer but if I just cover my expenses for the season I am happy. In fact, I don't even track that to see if I even break even. The game fees I get just go into a vacation savings account. I try to hit one or two out-of-town camps each summer so my wife can tag along and veg by the pool and we make it a little weekend getaway.

I don't know...maybe I am just weird.

Has the cost of basketballs gone up?

The coaches salary?

Admission fees?

Scorer's table costs (esp. if they are teachers at the school)?

Uniform costs?

So, the officials are paying for all of that?

[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by BatteryPowered

While I certainly think officials should be paid a fair amount, Is even a 10% increase really so important that you would shut down for a season? Maybe it is me but doing the math from last season that percentage increase would provide $250.

Yes. It is not just 10% for one year that is the problem. They've been mistreated so long that they'd need a 50%-100% increase to catch up with other states.

They should be getting the same raises as those making the decisions on how much they get paid. The ADs/Principles are probably getting 3-5% every year, probably fought for by their teacher's union. For them to not give the officials anything year after year is, at best, hypocritical. They're really only for the benefits of unions and good pay as far as it helps them but for not for anyone else.

[Texas Aggie]

Is even a 10% increase really so important that you would shut down for a season?

This "logic" can be used to 1) ask the same question for ANY amount -- unless it could be shown that x%, and not x-1 or x-.01, is the threshold; and 2) keep on accepting low pay indefinitely.

At SOME point, you have to take a stand and say, "I'm not interested in working at that rate."

[bisonlj]

Originally Posted by Camron Rust

Yes. It is not just 10% for one year that is the problem. They've been mistreated so long that they'd need a 50%-100% increase to catch up with other states.

They should be getting the same raises as those making the decisions on how much they get paid. The ADs/Principles are probably getting 3-5% every year, probably fought for by their teacher's union. For them to not give the officials anything year after year is, at best, hypocritical. They're really only for the benefits of unions and good pay as far as it helps them but for not for anyone else.

They are making $95 per game. That's more than most states so there isn't much catching up.

[Welpe]

Originally Posted by bisonlj

They are making $95 per game. That's more than most states so there isn't much catching up.

That's football playoff rate for the highest classification.

Most of what is being discussed here are basketball pay rates, which are quite low compared to most areas.

Regular season football rates are ok, but not outstanding.