MP school salaries to total $15.5 million in fiscal 2014-15

By BROOKS TAYLOR

Mt. Pleasant News

Mt. Pleasant Community School District?s base teaching salary will rise by $675 to $32,190, according to the terms of the master contract between the school district and Mt. Pleasant Education Association (MPEA).

Terms of the pact were announced and ratified during Wednesday night?s school board meeting. Settlements for personnel covered by Association of Federal, State, County and Municipal (AFSCME) and non-union personnel also were ratified by the board.

Total package increase for MPEA personnel was listed at 3.8 percent.

The lone other major change in the contract came in a language item.

Following is the new language concerning break time.

?Classroom employees shall in addition to their lunch period have the following daily break time:

? Elementary school-30 minutes (200 minutes in a five-day teaching week).

? Middle school and senior high-Break time shall be equivalent to a class period.

? No other duties shall be assigned during said period of time unless in the discretion of the principal. The same is necessary for emergency reasons.

The total package increase in dollar amounts for faculty members is $435,173.62.

Initially, a contract was settled with those covered by the AFSCME contract (school custodians, maintenance workers and para-educators that reflected a 3 percent package increase. However, the district promised support staff employees that if the contract with the MPEA reflected an increase of higher than 3 percent, they, too, would receive a similar increase. Consequently, support staff will be receiving a 3.8 percent total package increase, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Mike Wells said Wednesday night.

Other classification of employees and the corresponding increase include: secretaries, 3.84 percent; transportation (bus drivers), 3.8 percent; managers, 3.84 percent; administrators, 3.13 percent; central office, 6.97 percent; cooks, 3.8 percent; hot-lunch program manager, 3.8 percent.

Projected total salaries for district employees in fiscal 2014-15 is just over $15.5 million. The district will also pay $640,000 toward health-insurance premiums.

Wells pointed out that district administrators (superintendent and building principals) will not receive a raise next year. ?We set a goal for student proficiency this year at 85 percent and proficiency fell short at 79 percent, so we did not meet our goal.?

In other agenda items, the board approved the 2014-15 school calendar based on hours rather than days. Wells said instructional hours will be 1,094. State law requires a minimum of 1,080 hours. ?We want maximum time, not minimum time,? the superintendent said.

The 2014-15 term will begin Aug. 12 and the first semester will end Dec. 19. There will be no school on Nov. 26-28 for Thanksgiving break and Dec. 22-Jan. 4 for Christmas vacation.

School will be dismissed on May 15 and graduation will be May 17. There will be no school on President?s Day (Feb. 16).

The district is beginning and ending school earlier next term because they hope to air condition the elementary schools (dependent upon it being recommended by the school board and a bond issue approved by voters) and would need additional time in the summer to install either air conditioning or geothermal heating and air conditioning.

Directors also approved the waiver for an early start. Iowa school districts wishing to start classes before the week of Labor Day are required to submit a waiver to the state for permission to do so.

Board members will meet again in regular session Monday, June 9, at 7 p.m. in the Central Office.