No consensus reached on teachers' salaries

Talk about it

Dickinson Public Schools Collaborative Bargaining Team members can’t seem to agree on staff salaries and leave days.

At Friday’s meeting they discussed changes in the staff salary index and personal and emergency leave days but with no resolution.

A preliminary schedule was released in late April for discussion, which, beginning in the 2009-2010 school year, would give new teachers at Dickinson Public Schools a beginning salary of $31,000, nearly $4,000 more than last year’s base salary.

In the proposal, all full-time staff would receive a minimum increase of $1,900 with an average of $3,055 during the 2009-2010 school year.

Following April’s meeting, Dickinson Education Association representatives took the information back to other DEA members who did not accept the proposed salary index. The index is based on the amount of education, continuing education credits and the number of years staff members have worked for DPS.

They came up with a new index to get beginning salaries raised to better compete with other districts, said Dean Rummel, board president. Starting salaries are the same, but the way they are figured would change.

“This new salary index keeps those veteran staff members at their same index but allows the district to have some greater hiring power for new staff members,” said Vince Reep, business manager and director of personnel for DPS. “It keeps the same dollar value that we wanted to have, and our goal was to have the same starting salary at $31,000. We just reworked the index and adjusted it so the index stayed the same.”

When compared to nine other Class A schools similar or larger in size to DPS, Dickinson ranks last in new teacher salaries, Stremick said.

With the proposed increase in beginning salaries, Stremick said he hopes to move the school up in rank to around fifth place.

“What we’re asking is to get our starting salary to be an average of the Class A schools,” Stremick said.

The DEA will bring the proposed salary index back to its members before the next Collaborative Bargaining Team meeting.

Members also discussed changing the language and terms of personal and emergency leave but they did not reach a consensus. Reep suggested forming a subcommittee to work on the issues.

“I feel we’re really close,” Stremick said. “I really do think we’re about done.”

The next meeting is at 7:30 a.m., Thursday at the Central Administration Building.

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