Teachers, schools reach salary deal

May 24—Teachers and administrators struck a deal on the school system's salary scale that increases starting pay and rewards teachers who stick with the school system for 20 years and beyond.

With a price tag of about $300,000, the plan keeps a planned 3% county-wide raise while addressing concerns about a pay scale that was largely stagnant after 20 years of teaching.

"I know it's not everything we would like, but it's a good start," said Jim Inman, 1st District representative.

Julia Timson, president of the Cumberland County Education Association, said, "It's movement."

The collaborative conferencing teams had planned to reconvene in early June, but Chief Financial Officer Kacee Harris said that would be after the budget for the coming year was complete.

"Our goal tonight is, if we can agree on a salary proposal ... I've got my last budget meeting tomorrow night and then the whole board gets the budget next Thursday," Harris said.

At the last meeting, the group asked Harris to determine the cost for several options related to the pay scale:

—Add years 25-30 to the pay scale with a .5% step increase each year after 20 — $200,515

—Add years 25-30 to the pay scale with a .75% step increase each year after 20 — $300,773

—Balance step increases at 2% — $2.6 million

—Balance step increases at 3% — $7.1 million

The last two options did not include the additional payments in Social Security and state retirement, which would be in addition to those figures.

"We ran countless spreadsheets and scenarios," Harris said. "We kept coming back to recruit and retain ... We're doing something at the top and we're doing something at the bottom."

The proposal builds on the 3% salary increase the school system proposed in its 2021-'22 budget.

"Everybody gets the 3%," Harris said.

Teachers in years 20-25 would have .5% step increases, with a top-out salary of $49,153 for a teacher with a bachelor's degree and $54,963 for a teacher with a master's degree.

This year, a teacher with a master's degree and 25 years experience earns $51,884. Under the proposed plan, that teacher would make $54,963 next year, an increase of $3,079.

"You would start seeing that in your checks in August," Harris said.

It was noted teachers with more than 25 years experience would also get the same $3,079 increase next year.

At the starting end of the salary schedule, the plan adds 2.8% to exceed the projected state salary minimum for a starting salary of $38,500. The first five years, step increases would be about 1% to hit the six-year state salary minimum, $40,810.

The starting salary for a teacher with a master's degree would increase by .62% to comply with state salary minimum of $41,045. Step increases the first five years would be 1.4-1.5% with a six-year salary of $44,807, the state minimum.

There would be no changes to the first five steps for the salary schedule for an Ed.S. or Ph.D. degree.

The plan would also not require additional funding to implement this year.

"The consensus was that we'd like to do something to address salary but also stay within our budget allocation," Harris said.

Mitch Lowe, principal at Phoenix School, said he liked that the plan would boost pay for new teachers, as well.

"It's not going to do a whole lot of good to pay veteran teachers if we can't keep those good ones early on," he said. "I think the retain part is my favorite piece."

Kim Bray, human resources supervisor, said the plan would help her when she attends job fairs at area colleges to recruit teachers.

"This will help me a lot. When you put this with the insurance package, I think it makes us very competitive," she said.

Director of Schools Ina Maxwell said the plan was an attempt to move in the right direction.

"This isn't something that can be fixed overnight, but I think this is a really great place to start," she said. "It's our attempt to say, 'We hear you, we value you.'"

Michael DiBiccaro, teacher at Cumberland County High School, said, "As long as we have a commitment to keep working on these each budget year and take a look at this, instead of waiting three years, so we can piecemeal it ... That's what I thought. Call a collaborative conference in October and look at things."

The teachers team adjourned briefly to discuss the proposal. Upon return, they asked that years 26-30 be added to the pay schedule, though the rate would be the same as the 25th year.

DiBiccaro said, "We know the money will be the same."

Timson thanked Harris and the administrative team for working to bring a proposal back so quickly.

"I know you worked hard," she said.

The proposal was approved by the group with Kim Wattenbarger, librarian at Stone Memorial High School, neither opposed or in favor.

The budget committee of the Cumberland County Board of Education approved the plan during its meeting Wednesday night. It goes before the full board at the May 27 meeting.

Following discussion of salary issues, the teams also came to agreements on the rest of the memorandum of understanding with teachers, concerning topics in working conditions, fringe benefits and insurance. That will go before the board May 27, as well.

No changes were proposed for teacher insurance benefits. The school system pays insurance premiums for teachers and dependents while teachers pay half the cost of adding a spouse to their insurance plan.

CCEA presented several items that will be revisited later in the year, with administrators saying they needed time to research the potential cost and legal references:

—Paying certified employees their daily pay rate for any mandated or pre-approved professional development outside of the regular school day or required by the school calendar

—Paying certified employees $75-$100 per day for unused sick leave at the time of retirement

—Paying certified personnel for time they are required to work at ballgames during the school year, with a proposal of $10 per hour for game duty paid through athletic funds

—Paying for insurance benefits for the spouse of a deceased certified employee for six months and ensuring insurance providers send information on COBRA insurance benefits

A proposal seeking three days of bereavement leave for certified employees was referred to the school board's policy committee for possible action.

If approved, the MOU would be in effect for three years, though the teams can discuss items like insurance and salary prior to that time.

Heather Mullinix is editor of the Crossville Chronicle. She covers schools and education in Cumberland County. She may be reached at hmullinix@crossville-chronicle.com.