Taylor teachers will take pay reductions in a contract approved Monday by the Taylor School Board.
The teachers took some of the hardest concessions in the Kokomo area, as schools and their teachers’ associations scrambled to settle multi-year contracts ahead of passage of state legislation that limits teacher collective bargaining to salary and benefits only.
Most Kokomo-area teachers’ associations agreed to no salary increases but gained the right to be part of decisions regarding evaluations and merit pay, in contracts approved in the last week.
Northwestern’s school board approved its contract Wednesday, while Eastern Howard Schools and Tri-Central Community Schools approved contracts Thursday.
Kokomo-Center and Western approved similar teacher contracts in March. Maconaquah’s board will meet at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday to approve its teacher contract.
Most years, contract negotiation takes place during the summer, but superintendents said they and their teacher associations wanted to have contracts in place before Gov. Mitch Daniels approves legislation that limits teacher collective bargaining to salary and benefits only.
The Indiana House approved the Senate bill regarding collective bargaining Friday. It now returns to the Senate for final approval before being sent to Daniels for his signature.
Taylor’s contract leaves class size limitations in place, but teachers signed a memorandum of understanding that class sizes will be adjusted to the current caps plus five until the contract ends in 2015. During that time, no overage will be paid for having more children than the approved maximum, and there will be no hiring of aides.
However, if the corporation’s cash balance reaches 8 percent, class sizes will revert back to the 2010 to 2011 caps.
Teacher salaries will be reduced by 2.5 percent in 2011 to 2012, and there will be no raises in 2012 to 2013. Automatic yearly increments will also be suspended, and the board will not increase its contribution to the employee health insurance.
Superintendent John Magers said association and corporation representatives will meet each year of the contract to review the corporation’s financial status, and salary and benefits could change after the second year.
The board also agreed that once this agreement was signed, there would be no additional layoffs for the 2010 to 2011 school year.
Magers said the financial reductions were necessary, given the state’s economic situation.
“School districts have had to find areas in their master contracts to help offset the revenue issue. Here at Taylor Community School Corp., I am very proud to say that our teachers have stepped to the plate and taken the brunt of the sacrifice. Once again we are witnessing the exceptionality of our teachers and their willingness to be part of this financial situation.”
Eastern’s board approved a three-year contract in which teachers will work a half-hour longer each day, the salary schedule is frozen for three years, and the corporation will not pay tuition reimbursement. Teachers also agreed to eliminating binding arbitration from the contract. Teachers will still receive increment raises and can make “column” or “lane” changes by receiving advanced degrees.
Superintendent Tracy Caddell said the corporation and teachers agreed to work together on a merit pay schedule and new evaluation model, to meet new state requirements passed by the Legislature.
Kim Patterson, Eastern’s teacher association president, said teachers wanted to extend the contract to potentially avoid some of the legislation’s repercussions.
“We gain some peace of mind that for the next three years, we at least will receive our increment and be able to change columns in the pay scale. Many schools are losing binding arbitration. Some schools have frozen the salary schedule and are not receiving the increment and are not making column moves,” she said.
She said the extra half-hour per day is to allow for professional development, now that the Indiana Department of Education does not allow schools to count professional development time toward its required 180 days.
She said the loss of tuition reimbursement is offset by the fact the Department of Education no longer requires college courses in order to renew a teaching license.
At Tri-Central, teachers agreed to a five-year contract with no increase on the salary schedule. Superintendent Lee Williford said the contract also includes a memorandum of understanding that teachers will be included in deciding how merit pay and evaluations that include student test data are implemented.
“We feel we can resolve these issues at the local level,” rather than adopt a state model, Williford said.
Northwestern’s teachers agreed to a four-year contract with no salary increase unless the cash balance reaches a set threshold, Superintendent Ryan Snoddy said.
Teachers also agreed to work with administration on developing a new teacher evaluation model to meet the new requirements.
“We value their input and want their input on how they are going to restructure things,” Snoddy said.