Board finalizes teacher salaries

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The Dickinson Education Association and the Dickinson Public Schools Board came to an agreement on teacher salaries during a meeting Wednesday, and new teacher salaries will increase.

The board voted unanimously to accept an agreement which includes the following:

- The agreement is for two years, ending June 30, 2011.

- A base number is multiplied by a percentage based on a teacher’s education, continuing education credits and years of service, to get the teacher’s salary. While the base number is $26,500, the 2008-2009 amount was $25,400. The new base for 2010-2011 is $27,800.

- New teachers will make about $31,000 for the first school year and about $32,500 for the second.

- The contract meets the state mandate of spending 70 percent of new state money on teacher compensation.

“I think everything is at what the bargaining team expected and wanted,” said Vince Reep, business manager and director of personnel for Dickinson Public Schools.

Mitzi Swenson, board member, said not all requested changes could be made.

“We had a finite number of dollars we were working with and we were trying to make some changes in the index and we weren’t successful in all of that negotiation,” she said.

“This (new starting salary) will give us a much greater possibility for recruiting new teachers,” Reep said.

The next board meeting is at 5 p.m., Monday, July 13 at the Central Administration Building.

Tags: news, local, teachers, salaries, reep