The Knox school officials are hoping to boost the starting salary for teachers.
Superintendent Dr. William Reichhart told the school board last week that the state is allowing school corporations to set aside a portion of the Teacher Appreciation Grant funds specifically for qualified teachers with less than five years of service. But Reichhart said the plan is to raise the base salary, instead. “In talking with [the Knox Federation of Teachers], they feel like we’re trying to, as we start negotiations, bring up that bottom base salary with teachers,” he said, “and we feel like we don’t want to mess with the Teacher Appreciation Grant.”
He explained that even though he doesn’t plan to set aside a portion of the Teacher Appreciation Grant for new teachers, the school corporation has to update its policy to state that it has that option. Reichhart said no other changes are being made to the Teacher Appreciation Grant distribution policy and the update is just a formality. Currently, the stipends given to teachers rated “highly effective” are 25 percent higher than those given to teachers with just an “effective” rating.
The policy update will be up for the Knox School Board’s final approval next week.
