School staff, teachers to get raises

Local teachers and other school employees will likely be getting significant raises.

During a special meeting prior to the regular Jay School Board meeting Monday, Jay School Corporation superintendent Jeremy Gulley laid out the details of a proposed contract with Jay Classroom Teachers Association that includes increasing the minimum salary to $40,000 and increasing salaries for support and administration staff by 3%.

At the regular meeting, the board approved the corporation’s 2022 budget as well as its bus replacement and capital projects plans.

The proposed contract with Jay Classroom Teachers Association — the union approved the agreement Oct. 14 and the school board plans to vote on it at a special meeting at 5 p.m. Oct. 25 at General Shanks — includes raising minimum teacher salaries to $40,000 and spending at least 45% of state funding on teacher salaries. Those two details are now required by the state.

“I know the state legislature has taken a lot of punches,” said Gulley. “When you work in the public domain, you take punches. But they did put money into schools. They did. And we, as you will see, pushed that money into our people’s wages.”

Also, all eligible teachers would receive a $2,100 increase in base salary and a $900 stipend. Those increases amount to an average raise of 4.3%.

Teachers who teach advanced placement and/or dual credit would receive an additional $1,500 per course each year (or $750 for one-semester courses). The hourly rate for curriculum development, professional development, after-school tutoring/remediation, credit recovery and covering classes would increase to $30 from the current $20.

For non-teaching employees, the proposal calls for a 3% raises across the board as well as increases of minimum salaries to $11 for aides, and custodians and $12.73 for secretaries. Bus drivers would have their rate raised to $23 per hour — they are currently paid per day instead of an hourly rate.

Gulley said the increases for teachers, support staff and administrators total $766,107 this year, with $596,730 of that total going to teachers.

Board members Phil Ford, Mike Shannon, Donna Geesaman, Chris Snow, Jason Phillips and Vickie Reitz, absent Ron Laux, also approved the 2022 budget of $35.5 million. That number is down 2.5% from the current year and includes $19.73 million in the education fund (down from $20.5 million this year), $9.54 million in the operation fund (down from $9.9 million this year), $5.3 million in the debt service fund and $893,000 in the pension debt service fund.

Also approved were the capital projects plan, in which roof replacements are the most costly projects, ranging between $350,000 and $500,000 each of the next four years. Other expenditures include student Chromebooks, vehicles and parking lot work.

The bus replacement plan calls for seven new busses in 2022, five in 2023 and four in 2024.

In other business, the board:

•Recognized the school corporations “Earn and Learn” program held at its John Jay Center for Learning Annex. The program, headed by Josh Gibson and Mike Biggs, has academic and career aspects. They explained that the program currently has 33 students who have various options for earning school credit and also receive help with career matching, job searches and internship placement. Thus far this year, the program has seven graduates and students have completed 175 credits.

•Got its first look at the proposed 2022-23 school calendar. It remains mostly unchanged, with the exception of moving registration days earlier in the summer to allow teachers and transportation staff more time to adjust to potential changes. The calendar calls for the first day of school Aug. 11, fall break Oct. 19 through 21, winter break Dec. 23 through Jan. 2, spring break March 20 through 24, the final day of classes May 18 and graduation June 4.

•Heard from assistant superintendent Trent Paxson that the corporation has no control over school zone warning lights, which are handled by Indiana Department of Transportation. He noted that the corporation has put in a request to INDOT about specific times that lights near school should be flashing.

•Accepted the retirement of band director Kelly Smeltzer, effective at the end of the school year. He has led the Marching Patriots since 2005. “Kelly’s done a fabulous job,” said Gulley. Ford noted that Smeltzer and Dave Humbert are the only directors the Marching Patriots have had in their 46-year history.

•Reviewed proposed policy changes regarding employment, nondiscrimination, leaves of absence and other issues.

•Approved the following: The hiring of custodian Greg Edwards and student learning aide Mason Edwards (East Elementary School); a leave of absence for East Elementary second grade teacher Brooke Schmiesing; extracurricular assignments, including Bill Bice as junior-senior high archery coach, Christian Ford as high school percussion instructor and Kyle Sibray as assistant high school swim coach; a field trip for the Marching Patriots from May 5 through 8 to perform at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia; a resolution for disposal of the former Westlawn Elementary School building, 234 W. Pearl St., Dunkirk; the updated school bus driver’s employment contract; the sale of six unused band instruments to Fort Recovery Local Schools; ending the built-in two-hour delay on the first Wednesday of each month; and the updated wellness policy, which includes minor changes regarding utilizing the Nutrislice application for nutritional information, meeting the United States Department of Agriculture’s Smart Snacks in School nutrition standards and clarifying the vending machines are not available for use by students during the school day.

•Accepted the resignation of junior-senior high instructional assistant Leslie McIntire. Also accepted the resignations of high school National Honor Society sponsor Chrissy Krieg and East Elementary yearbook sponsor Josh Gibson.