A new contract at New Castle Community School Corp. means 15 laid off teachers will have jobs next year.
On Monday, the school board approved the three-year contract in a vote of 4-1, with board member Steve Walls in opposition.
The new plan includes a change in the teachers' insurance plan that Supt. Steve Fisher has said will save the corporation about $840,000.
After the meeting, he said 15 staff members have already received notices calling them back to work.
In April, 31 teachers were notified their positions would be cut next school year. Those cuts were the result of a $1.7 million budget shortage resulting from state reductions, property tax shortfalls and other factors.
Plans for cutting the budget included closing Greenstreet Elementary School and teacher layoffs. But Fisher had said that a change in insurance could save many jobs.
Fisher said Monday that the agreement took three or four negotiation sessions between the administration and the New Castle Education Association.
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