Apr. 17—GRAND FORKS — The Grand Forks Education Association, a union representing the district's teachers in contract negotiations, rejected two salary proposals put forward by the School Board during the third session of negotiations on Monday.

In the board's first proposal — Scenario A — teachers would receive an annual salary increase over two academic years ranging from 3-5% based on experience, with the least tenured receiving the most in an effort to attract more new hires to the district, according to School Board Vice President Amber Flynn.

Scenario B would provide similar pay increases, while also gradually increasing the percentage of employer contribution to the North Dakota teacher's fund for retirement (TFFR) over a period of six years, of which participation is mandatory for all certified teachers in the state.

Dawn Mord, negotiations chair for the GFEA, said Scenario B is a non-starter, as the GFEA is unable to negotiate beyond a period of two years. Additionally, Mord said Scenario A does not adequately compensate experienced teachers.

"When it comes to Scenario A, we would not be able to ratify that," Mord said. "It is not equitable for our teachers. You are taking the most experienced teachers and giving them a 3% increase, and giving someone walking in the door over a 6% increase. I think you'll have a lot of experienced teachers walking out the door."

Mord also cited data from the state's Department of Public Instruction, which says Grand Forks Schools offered the lowest average teacher compensation among the largest school districts in North Dakota — at $80,243. It's a figure that takes into account base salary, benefits and employer contributions in the TFFR. Additionally, according to the same data, average teacher compensation for Grand Forks' teachers increased by $186 between 2020-2022, compared to the state's average of $3,027.

Mord asked the board why salary increases have not been commensurate with its increase in budgeted revenue — $10,669,819 over the past three years, according to the general fund — while budgeted salaries and benefits have decreased by $66,038 in the same timeframe.

"If you look at the optics of this as those receiving the salary, we see that you are bringing in more money, and spending more money on everything but salaries," Mord said.

The two parties also were unable to come to an agreement regarding the maximum number of caseloads a special education teacher can undertake prior to being eligible for pay increases. Caseloads are determined by a number of factors, such as the category of a student's disability and the amount of service they require, meaning that one student may exceed one caseload.

Under the board's proposal, special education teachers who have a caseload of 30 or higher would be eligible for a 15% salary increase based on the teacher's daily pay rate.

Amber Haskell, a special education teacher at Kelly Elementary, told the Herald that the board's optimal caseload factor recommendation of 25-27 is unrealistic, and the status quo has left her overworked

"I have 10 kids in my class, which translates to a caseload number of 26.6," Haskell said. "We are also short staffed on paraprofessionals because the district doesn't pay them adequately."

Negotiations will continue on April 27, at the Mark Sanford Education Center.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The original online version of this story misspelled the name of Dawn Mord.