For the first time since 2011, Brown County teachers will be able to predictably move up in salary levels based on their effectiveness rating and years of experience.
The Brown County School Board of Trustees has approved the 2017-18 contract with the Brown County Educators’ Association. It included a “ladder” model for teacher salaries.
“It definitely addresses the needs I had been told were important to teachers,” Superintendent Laura Hammack said.
Since a law was passed in 2011 that prevented teachers from moving up a salary schedule based solely on experience, Brown County teachers had been stuck on their current salary step. The district had given them stipends and base salary increases, but teachers were not moved to different levels of pay.
Trisha Ulrich, co-president of the Brown County Educators’ Association, said the association was “very pleased” with settling the contract for this school year “well before” the deadline established by the state.
“We very much appreciate the ease of working with the administrative team, in particular Dr. (Laura) Hammack, and the assistance of Sandy Steele, the ISTA uni-serve director,” Ulrich said in an emailed statement.
Ulrich said the this school year’s contract had to accomplish meeting the state requirement of equal pay increments and giving teachers a salary schedule.
“Many teachers have been frustrated with no movement upwards on a pay scale and no compensation for the very expensive addition of a master’s degree,” she said.
“We were able to do this and create a new ladder model for compensation. Of course, none of this would have been possible without the wonderful generosity of the taxpayers of Brown County who voted in a referendum. We are extremely grateful for that.”
Under last school year’s contract, teachers were eligible for a 2.5 percent base salary increase based on two factors: their effectiveness rating and years of experience. But a ladder salary model was not included.
Earlier this fall, the district’s negotiation team and the BCEA bargaining team met to discuss the model. Hammack had created a new model based on one she’d seen in another school district.
“They took some time to look at it, came back with some ideas then we worked on it and came back with some ideas. All of a sudden, we got to a place where we’re at a tentative agreement,” she said.
The model has first-year teachers with bachelor’s degrees earning $38,000 this school year, which is up from $36,388 last school year. Teachers were placed on the salary schedule based on their 2016-17 salary.
A teacher with two years of experience in the district can now move up and earn $38,800 a year. Second-year teachers earned $36,775 last year.
In 2016-17, a teacher with 11 years of experience who had a bachelor’s degree earned $43,255. This school year, that teacher will earn $46,000.
Teachers with bachelor’s degree qualify for the increase to their base salary this school year by receiving a rating of “effective” or “highly effective” on their evaluations for the 2016-17 school year, and by completing an additional year of experience — meaning they had to have been working for the district for 120 days the previous school year.
Teachers holding master’s degrees can advance one level by being rated “effective” or “highly effective.” They also have to complete one other unit of work, such as to do at least four hours of tutoring; serve as an unpaid activity sponsor for a minimum of four hours; serve on a district leadership committee; or teach an Advanced Placement or dual credit course. Each extra unit they complete equals $700.
Teachers holding master’s degrees also must complete an additional year of experience to move up the ladder this year.
If a teacher decides to earn a master’s degree, he or she would be able to move into a new lane of pay based on that educational experience. For example, a first-year teacher with a master’s degree can earn $39,200 under the new contract, while a first-year teacher with a bachelor’s degree would earn $38,000.
Teachers rated “ineffective” or “improvement necessary” will not be placed on the new salary model and will remain at their 2016-17 base salary, according to the plan.
Competition, transition
The new salary for first-year teachers is the same as what first-year teachers in Monroe and Bartholomew counties earn, Hammack said.
“We felt like we needed to get to a place where we could compete with our neighbors. This is the reality of where we are now,” she said.
Hammack estimated BCS loses two or three teachers to Bartholomew and Monroe counties each summer. The increase in starting pay puts the district on a “level playing field” now, she said.
Since it’s a transition year, Hammack said the current salaries of all teachers were moved up the salary scale to the next level.
“That allowed for some people, just in that jump, to get a really nice raise,” Hammack said.
But for some teachers, going to the next-highest level may have meant a raise of less than $1,000. They will get a stipend to make up the difference to $1,000, Hammack said.
All teacher raises and stipends will be paid for with referendum money. Teachers will receive retroactive payments from the beginning of the school year. Hammack said teachers have been promised to receive the payments before Christmas, but hopefully sooner.
“If we did not have that referendum, we would absolutely not be able to give any raises,” Hammack said.
Referendum money — which is 8 cents per every $100 on property taxes — totals about $1 million a year for seven years for the school district. The tax increase began with May 2017 tax bills.
Hammack said that it’s “difficult” to think about life without the extra referendum money, “particularly since we’re in an era where schools that are growing are getting more and more funding,” she said.
“We’re in a mode where we’re receiving less because we have less students; therefore, we can’t necessarily retain this without the referendum.”
In September, Brown County Schools had 1,881 students. That was the first time in at least five years that enrollment had gone up over the previous year.
“We’re at a place now where every single position that becomes available is one where folks now feel like, ‘How could you possibly take that position away?’ This is going to be really, really hard for us to get to that point where the number of students, the number of staff is in that sweet spot,” Hammack said.
She said the consistency in enrollment is important as district leaders try to make their budget more secure.
Other raises
At the Oct. 19 school board meeting, members also voted to approve raises for noncertified staff and administrators, roughly equivalent to the percentage increases that teachers are getting.
Hammack proposed giving administrators a 2 percent raise using general fund money, not referendum money.
“Last year, the board liked the idea of not giving the administrators anything different than what the certified teachers are given,” Hammack said.
Noncertified staff will receive a 25-cent increase on hourly rates, which translates to about 2 percent or more for them, Hammack said.
“The stars aligned here because it’s looking very, very equal,” she said.
The school board approved the raises unanimously.
