District outlines $3 million compensation pool and multiple salary‑schedule options; negotiators plan follow‑up analysis

District officials presented a compensation framework that started with an estimated 2.97% increase in base state aid for the coming year and, after weightings and enrollment adjustments, would yield about a 1.7% increase to the district's general fund. The district proposed applying roughly $3,000,000 of available new funds toward staff compensation, with $1,170,000 earmarked for certified staff salary increases and roughly $461,000 estimated for steps and column movement.

“The 2.97% increase of the base state aid will equate out to about a 1.7% increase to the district,” a district official said while explaining the calculation. The district presenter said the $3,000,000 philosophy was to spend general fund dollars on human capital rather than capital outlay, and outlined line items that would reduce the distributable remainder (including preservice days and Article 21 adjustments).

HR staff walked attendees through a salary‑schedule model that budgeted 450 positions and identified retirements and vacancies; the modeled step‑movement salary cost (with current staffing assumptions) was about $28,686,397. HR cautioned that proposed new columns — a bachelor’s+45 and master's+45 — could create substantial unknown future costs if many employees became eligible. In the model, roughly 121 employees could potentially move into those new columns; participants debated whether to remove the bachelor’s+45 option or to increase the contingency for column movement (one figure discussed was raising a column buffer from $147,000 to $200,000).

Participants discussed several concrete figures to reconcile differences in their estimates: a $50,000 placeholder for movement, $10,500 estimated for new‑teacher preservice days, and about $5,000 tied to an Article 21 change (combined ~$15,500). The district and union agreed to reconcile their differing calculations off‑line and to convene smaller technical meetings to firm up base salary, column movement contingencies, and step/column cost assumptions before returning to the full table.

Next steps include small‑group meetings to reconcile budget spreadsheets, draft specific salary language, and test scenarios for adding or removing columns before any final offer is presented to bargaining members.