Wawasee School Board member Rob Fisher reviews a copy of the collective bargaining agreement. Photo by Caleigh Byrer.

By Caleigh Byrer
InkFreeNews

SYRACUSE — A special meeting was held Thursday, Nov. 3, for the initial presentation of the tentative collective bargaining agreement to the Wawasee School Board of Trustees.

The agreement was presented by Superintendent Dr. Steve Troyer to the board for consideration only; no official action was taken.

The agreement includes an updated salary schedule and corresponding teacher placement schedule.

All teachers received a $1,750 base pay raise, so the salary range is now $40,250 to $71,750. The current placement schedule for new hires, with a one-time hiring stipend for hard-to-fill positions, will continue.

The agreement no longer includes the longevity, loyalty and attendance stipend. The in-house sub duty pay of $28 per hour will continue, as will the dual credit/AP/industry recognized certification stipend of $1,000 per year.

There are new leave buyback and retirement sick day buyback programs. So, for example, if a staff member has 20 days of combined sick leave and personal leave, they would be able to sell back 10 of those days to the corporation at a rate of $100 per day.

In the event of retirement, a staff member could sell back up to 100 days at a rate of $50 per day. If they have more than 100 days of leave, those additional days can be donated into the sick bank.

Health insurance cost increased by 2%, but there was an addition of two premium holidays, meaning staff will not have to pay their insurance premiums before Christmas break or spring break.

Significant adjustments were made to the music and theater programs in terms of directors, coordinators and assistants. All varsity head coaches were moved to group I or II designation to ensure fair pay. There was also a 5%-8% increase for all Group VI, VII and VIII coaching positions.

Despite the school losing 81 students from last fall to this fall, right sizing measures and the Indiana State Funding Formula increase in the spring allowed these changes to be fiscally possible. The school has received approximately $479,000 in new money from the state funding formula, despite the losses in revenue.

According to Troyer, ratification can be expected at the Tuesday, Nov. 8, board meeting. The tentative CBA in its entirety can be found at wawasee.k12.in.us/public-notices.