By VICKI URBANIK

Duneland School teachers will get an across-the-board pay raise of 3.5 percent, retroactive to last July, with another 4.5 percent raise for the 2008-09 school year, under the terms of a contract finalized on Monday.

The Duneland School Board ratified the teachers contract, following last week’s approval of the tentative agreement by the Duneland Teachers Association.

The contract brings to an end months of negotiations between the school corporation and the DTA, whose members began the school year without a new teachers contract.

In recent weeks, teachers have become more vocal about the lack of a contract, and one of their main arguments has been that Duneland has the lowest starting teacher pay among all schools in the Duneland Athletic Conference.

Duneland Superintendent Dirk Baer said the new contract makes inroads, but that the starting pay is still considered one of the lowest in the region. However, he said Duneland has long had the highest pay for teachers with a master’s degree and at least 10 years’ experience; now, under the new contract, Duneland can now boast of having the highest pay for teachers with a master’s and eight year’s experience.

Under the new contract, the starting pay for a teacher with a bachelor’s degree and no experience is now $31,032 this year and will be $32,351 in 2008-09.

For every year of experience, as the teachers move up the pay scale, their pay increases. The salary for a teacher with a bachelor’s degree and five year’s experience is now $37,683 and for those with eight years experience, just over $42,000. A teacher with a master’s degree and no experience will now be paid $31,825; a teacher with a master’s degree and 10 years of experience will be paid $49,006.

The top category is for teachers with a master’s degree and 15 years experience, plus at least 30 credit hours. The pay in that category is now $62,426 and will be $65,079 next school year.

According to the Duneland school’s statistics posted on the Indiana Department of Education’s website, the average teacher salary this year -- before the new contract -- is $48,100.

Duneland Assistant Superintendent Dave Pruis estimated that the cost of the pay increases will be roughly $780,000 in the first year. The total cost for the salaries, benefits, new positions, and other changes in the contract is projected at about $1.9 million over the two-year time period.

Baer said the philosophy at the Duneland schools has always been to focus on higher compensation, not just as the teachers move up the salary schedule but as they obtain additional degrees.

He said the negotiation process involved three sessions with a mediator, who was brought in after an impasse was declared. “The process was a long one,” he said. “We’re glad to be done.”

The 3.5 percent pay raise is retroactive to last July, when the previous contract expired. Teachers will receive a check with the back-pay, Baer said.

The new agreement will cover four years, but the pay hikes were established for only this school year and next school year. In the spring of 2009, the school administration and the DTA will re-open talks limited to just compensation and two language items. All other contract language will remain in place through the 2010-11 school year.

Although the compensation was said to be the main issue under negotiation, the new contract contains other provisions. According to the DTA, those changes include new personnel files language, leave of absence provisions, new extra curricular positions, changes in the salary schedule structure, and additional contributions to the teacher retirement accounts.

“The parties are pleased with the new agreement and look forward to the next four years of working together for the students and community in the Duneland School Corporation,” says a statement released by the DTA.

Pruis said the new extracurricular positions created in the agreement were the establishment of North Central Association chairs at each building, positions that are related to the accreditation process; sixth grade track and cross country coaches; middle school set designers; and a director of musicals.

The new contract includes a new, annual contribution by the Duneland Schools into a local teacher retirement account. The contribution will be 1 percent of the teacher base pay. Like many other school systems, Duneland also picks up the mandatory 3 percent contribution paid into the statewide teacher retirement fund.

Pruis noted that the Duneland Schools has been hiring new teachers as the experienced ones retire -- 27.5 new teachers were hired in the past school year to replace those who resigned or retired or to fill the approximately 10 additional teaching slots. He said he expect Duneland will need to hire additional staff next school year as well, depending on what happens with full-day kindergarten and Chesterton High School’s application to become an International Baccalaureate school.

When asked if any school program or project was cut in order to free up the funds for the teachers’ contract, Pruis said he doesn’t anticipate any cuts. But he also said whether the schools system will have to cut its budget will largely depend on the Indiana General Assembly, and the decisions lawmakers make this session on school funding matters.

Posted 3/4/2008