The Knox Community School Board held a public meeting Monday night pertaining to the collective bargaining agreement, as required by state statute.
Superintendent Dr. William Reichhart said negotiations could begin Thursday, September 15 between the Knox Community School Board and the Knox Federation of Teachers (KFT).
Dr. Reichhart stated, “We reached an agreement on the 15th. That agreement calls for all of our teachers who are eligible will receive $1,000 based on last year’s evaluation, and then they will receive another $1,000 for another year of experience. To be eligible, they have to be rated effective or highly effective on their last teacher evaluation.”
Dr. Reichhart added that the action raises the teacher base salary to $42,600 at the corporation and it raises the cap on the top pay for the most experienced teachers to $67,715.
“Our new teachers that were hired in this year will have a back pay as well as the rest of our teachers to this agreement once it’s ratified. It has to be ratified by both the membership in KFT and also by the Board of Trustees.
The approval of the ratification of the agreement is expected to take place during the school board’s next meeting on Monday, October 17.
Dr. Reichhart commented that in the last five years, the starting salary for teachers has increased almost $10,000. Pay increases for support staff and administrators are expected to be considered in the next few board meetings.
