When Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools went to the voters in May of 2016 asking for a property tax increase to solidify the financial situation of the local schools, one argument educators made to vote yes was the issue of teacher compensation. HSE Schools Superintendent Allen Bourff often said HSE, because of the quality and reputation of the school system and the community, can recruit and retain good teachers without being at the top of the Indianapolis suburban pay school.
Dr. Bourff said HSE just needs to be competitive by raising the compensation closer to the middle of the pack among the Indy suburbs. The referendum passed overwhelmingly.
The Hamilton Southeastern Education Association (HSEA) and Hamilton Southeastern School administrators have hammered out a new two-year contract covering calendar years 2018 and 2019 for teachers in the HSE school corporation. At the Oct. 25 school board meeting, Superintendent Bourff summarized the main provisions in the new contract proposal. Those provisions include:
- In 2018, teachers will receive an average pay increase of 2.73 percent, with salaries ranging from a low of $40,158 up to high of $79,085.
- In 2019, the average salary increase will be 2.66 percent, with the low $40,158 and the high $79,751.
- There will be a group of teachers not always falling under the increases described above due to what is described as a “reset,” which is an effort to increase the pay of newly hired teachers who suffered pay caps during the tough budget years.
- Health insurance premiums will not increase in 2018, but 2019 premiums will depend on what the school system experiences in health claims, as that data is not known yet.
- Teacher compensation for extracurricular activities will not change in the current 2017-2018 school year, but the school corporation will inject $17,500 into that money pool during the 2018-2019 school year.
- The administration PowerPoint presentation says this contract will increase teacher compensation by just over $6.4 million during the two-year duration of the pact.
Teachers must ratify this contract. The vote will be held Nov. 1 through Nov. 3. If teachers approve, the school board will hold a ratification vote at the Nov. 8 meeting.
It should be noted that I have covered a number of teacher-school board bargaining over new contracts. This is the first time I have ever seen a school corporation choose to reveal publicly the major provisions of a proposed agreement before the teachers begin the ratification process.