Posted: Dec. 15, 2009

The Maple Dale-Indian Hill School Board and the North Suburban Education Association - Maple Dale Chapter have reached an agreement on a contract for 2009.

Business Manager Gary Swalve said teachers will receive a total benefit and salary package averaging 4.12 percent. Swalve said the average increase for the previous two contract years was 4.15 percent each of the two years.

Teachers in all but the top salary cells will receive a 2 percent salary increase while teachers at the top of the pay scale received a 3 percent increase.

A starting teacher will earn $36,476 under the contract while a teacher with a master's degree and 30 years experience in the top pay step will earn $$78,551. Under the previous contract a beginning teacher earned $35,761 and a teacher at the top of the pay scale earned $76,263.

Health insurance costs for the district increased 2.6 percent for family coverage and 2.9 percent for single coverage, Swalve said.

Teacher retirement costs increase 0.8 percent above the expected increase because the state is requiring higher payments to recoup money lost in the economic downturn. The total retirement payments, which are applied to a teacher's total compensation package, will be 11.9 percent in 2009 and 12.6 percent in 2010.

Swalve said he was a member of a panel of school district business managers that met last week in Madison, discussing the previous standard established by the qualified economic offer. Under the QEO, districts were required to make salary adjustments of at least 3.8 percent. The legislature did away with the QEO earlier this year.

"We as business managers want to use some method of costing and the QEO does that," he said. "It allows statewide comparisons."

 

- Mary Buckley