Board OKs contract

BERNE — South Adams teachers have a contract.
A day after South Adams Classroom Teachers Association voted to approve a collectively-bargained contract, South Adams School Board did the same at a special meeting Thursday. The contract is effective from Aug. 1, 2013, through July 31, 2014, for salaries, and through June 30, 2015, on language and wage-related fringe benefits.
The board also approved contracts for classified staff and administrators.
“We have a wonderful staff,” said superintendent Scott Litwiller prior to the board’s unanimous vote to approve the contract. “They’re skilled. They’re dedicated to their jobs. They take the profession seriously.”
The teachers’ contract calls for a pool of $98,770 to be used for raises during the contract period. That works out to $1,190 per teacher, which is between a 2.1- and 3.8-percent increase depending on the previous salary.
The total amount is based on teacher performance from the 2012-13 school year, with teachers who rated effective or highly effective getting the pay bump.
Administrators must first finalize evaluations from last year, which Litwiller said should be done by Nov. 1, after which the raises will go into effect.
Six teachers, five of whom were on the negotiating committee for SACTA, were in attendance at the meeting.
“I just want to thank you for all the hard work and all the hours,” board president Arlene Amstutz said to the group.
By state law, administrators and teachers could not begin negotiating on a contract until Aug. 1. Had those negotiations not reached a deal by Sept. 30, there would have been an impasse and a mediator would have been assigned.
The board also unanimously approved contracts for administrators and classified staff, including bus drivers, food service workers, technology personnel and teachers’ aides.
The administrators’ contracts call for a raise matching the $1,190 given to teachers. Receiving those raises are high school principal Trent Lehman, middle school principal Jeff Rich, athletics director Jason Arnold and director of Title I and curriculum Michelle Clouser. The curriculum director title was added to Clouser’s contract, which was also extended by 20 days to a total of 220.
Elementary principal Shellie Miller did not receive a raise because she is in her first year with South Adams Schools. The raises are based on last year’s performance.
All administrators are now in the first year of a two-year contract.
The contract for classified staff calls for an increase of 1.75 percent in addition to a 10-cent longevity raise that was approved in June.
In other business, board members Ray Gill, John Mann, Julie Mansfield, John Buckingham, Amy Orr, Landon Patterson and Amstutz:
•Voted to move the next regular meeting to 6 p.m. Oct. 15. The change will allow them the necessary 10 days to advertise Litwiller’s contract before having a public hearing at the Oct. 15 meeting.
The board must then wait at least seven days before voting to approve the contract, which it plans to do at its regular meeting on Nov. 12.
•Heard from Gill and Litwiller about their trip to the Indiana School Board Association fall conference Sept. 13 at Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis.
They both talked about the importance of growth, with Gill recommending the web site www.riseabovethemark.com.
Litwiller noted that it’s important for South Adams Schools to be measured not just against other schools in the region, but also against those throughout the state.
•Discussed taking part in the Indiana School Board Association’s Region 3 fall meeting Oct. 17 at Goeglein’s in Fort Wayne. The group set a deadline of Oct. 8 for members to sign up to attend.[[In-content Ad]]