R-BB raises pay for teachers, administrators, staff; most classified positions increase 2%

ELLETTSVILLE — Pay for beginning teachers in the Richland-Bean Blossom Community School Corp. is increasing by $3,000 this school year under a collective bargaining agreement approved Monday.

R-BB teachers' pay range will now be $41,500 to $76,500. The increase is retroactive to the start of the school year.

A public hearing about the 2021-22 collective bargaining agreement was conducted last week, and the collective bargaining agreement with the Richland-Bean Blossom Education Association was approved by the R-BB board during Monday’s regular board meeting. Pay increases for administrators and classified staff were also approved.

Board member Angie Jacobs was not at the meeting.

The collective bargaining agreement shows that pay for extracurricular activities, like coaching or being a club sponsor, increased by 50%.

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All school corporations in the state are required to establish $40,000 as the minimum teacher pay starting in the 2022-23 school year, per Indiana code 20-28-9-26. If school corporations can't, they must submit a letter to the state explaining their financial challenges.

The board also approved the distribution of Teacher Appreciation Grant Funds.

R-BB Superintendent Jerry Sanders said sometime this week, all school corporations in Indiana should receive their allotment of what the state is providing for TAG grants. They will be distributed in single payments, he said, and must be paid out within 20 days of the Indiana Department of Education distributing them. Funds are to be given to effective and highly effective teachers. By law, highly effective teachers must receive at least 25% more in TAG grants than effective teachers. To be eligible, teachers must hold a certified position with R-BB. Sanders said the payment is around $400 for highly effective teachers.

Sanders said effective and highly effective administrators will receive a stipend equal to the TAG grants that will be given to teachers, but those will be paid out of the district’s education fund.

Classified contracts and staff pay increases

The board also approved pay raises for classified staff.

Technology, transportation, maintenance and nutrition services directors each received about a $3,500 increase, with a few being more or less in order to get to a rounded dollar amount. The corporation nurse received a smaller increase of $2,000 due to her just starting at the beginning of the school year.

A flat percentage increase wasn’t given for all classified, hourly positions because some had larger gaps in pay to fix, such as instructional aides, Irwin said, who start out making $9.37.

“That wasn't going to cut it,” Irwin said.

Instructional aides now make $12 under the agreement for their first year. Almost every classified position — maintenance staff, transportation, secretaries, cooks and others — are receiving about a 2% increase, if not more.

“We’ve made a pretty significant investment in our people this year, which we felt was pretty warranted especially as we think about the many great people that we have involved with our community and our kids that we want to keep involved,” Irwin said. “And as openings come up, we have the ability to attract really great people to come in and work with our kids as well.”

Administrative pay

Administrative contracts for 2021-22 and 2022-23 were approved.

Sanders said this year, the district put together an administrative salary review team so “we would be able to develop a specific model, some rhyme or reason to determining administrative salaries.”

Sanders said R-BB wanted to be able to come up with administrative salaries that were competitive with other school corporations. He said the school corporation is much more successful when there's consistent leadership from year to year and salaries are one way to accomplish that.

Sanders said some positions were “just out of line,” in terms of pay, so changes weren’t equal across all positions, but increases generally ranged from $2,000 to more than $6,000.

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During the meeting, Matt Irwin, R-BB’s business manager, was approved to become the assistant superintendent, and with the administrative contracts being approved, will now make $100,000 a year.

Sanders said three years ago, when he first became superintendent, he proposed to the school board that they not replace the assistant superintendent position, and instead hire Paul Pfledderer through Administrative Assistants to help get the corporation to a better financial position.

The plan was to ultimately hire a full time business manager, which the district did with Irwin, and Sanders said R-BB is in a much better financial position because of him. This change more closely matches Irwin’s title to the role he actually plays in the school corporation, Sanders said.

COVID-19 update

Sanders also shared COVID-19 updates. Here’s how many students are quarantined at each school as of Nov. 12, he said:

• Edgewood Early Childhood Center: 5

• Edgewood Primary School: 123

• Edgewood Intermediate School: 45

• Edgewood Junior High School: 39

• Edgewood High School: 16

Sanders also shared the number of COVID-19 cases since fall break:

• EECC: 0

• EPS: 16 students, eight staff members

• EIS: 10 students, two staff members

• EJHS: eight students, 0 staff members

• EHS: 13 students, 0 staff members

“If we want to keep our kids in school and we want to keep our kids safe, I believe that we need to stay diligent in the safety measures that we're implementing,” Sanders said.

Dana Kerr, board president, said when there are students who are quarantined but no cases reported in the school, that means those students are quarantined due to being close contacts outside of school.

“We were concerned a few weeks ago about the increasing numbers and EPS,” Sanders said. “And so we had a meeting with the Monroe County Health Department just to make sure that we were on target and was there any consideration that we needed to give to taking further measures, and we were told that we were doing exactly as we should be, and to continue down that path.”

Sanders said students have been organized into pods at EPS in order to reduce the number of quarantines.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has approved COVID-19 Pfizer vaccinations for children ages 5-11. The Monroe County Public Health Clinic, a partnership between the Monroe County Health Department and IU Health Bloomington Hospital, is working with local schools to host vaccination clinics. One will be held at EPS on Thursday, but Sanders said parents have been making appointments and slots for that evening have been filled.

More clinics, conducted by the health department, will be held at schools during the school day, Sanders said. On Dec. 15 and Jan. 19, parents can have their children ages 5-11 vaccinated at school. These are 100% voluntary and require parental consent. Sanders said a paper permission slip will be sent home the Monday following Thanksgiving. Parents will be allowed to be present for the vaccination, Sanders said.

Other business

The board approved a renewal with the South Central Region Workforce Board for implementation of Jobs for America's Graduates at EHS. Sanders said the program is offered to high school juniors and seniors who are at risk of not graduating or not making a successful transition from school to a career. EHS has a JAG specialist paid for through grant funding.

The next regular board meeting will begin at 6 p.m. Dec. 20 in the Edgewood High School auditorium.

Contact Emily Cox at 812-331-4243, ecox@heraldt.com or follow @HT_InSchool on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: R-BB board raises pay for teachers, staff and administrators