Board approves contracts, teachers to receive 3% raise

By James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

Teachers in the Charles City School District will receive a 3% raise next year.

At Monday’s meeting, the Charles City School District Board of Directors approved a three-year master contract that includes the teacher step and lane advancement and increases the regular program base by $722, for a total package increase of 3%. The contract also allows the district to reconcile the Teacher Supplemental Salary (TSS) if needed to comply with all laws and regulations.

The state of Iowa adds a TSS of $5,696 for teachers in their first three years of teaching and $6,696 for teachers with four or more years experience, making salaries in Iowa higher and more attractive to job seekers.

The district reached a three-year tentative agreement with the Charles City Community Education Association (CCCEA), last week. In the agreement, the CCCEA and the district agreed to open wages up for discussion in the 2022-2023 school year.

The board also approved a five-year master contract with the Charles City Community Educational Services Association, the support staff group. The agreement advances the staff step and increases the wages by $1 an hour for the 2022-23 school year, 50 cents an hour for the 2023-24 school year, and 50 cents an hour for the 2024-25 school year.

The board also approved allowing the district to move to a fully insured health plan with Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield and implement a partially self-funded plan with Midwest Group Benefits for the July 1, 2022 health insurance renewal.

The district would purchase two health plans from Wellmark – a PPO (National Network) and HMO (Iowa Only Network). Both plans would have higher deductibles and out-of-pocket than what the district has today, but would use Midwest Group Benefits to fund the deductibles and out-of-pocket to match the current plan offerings.

While deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums would stay the same, the office visit copay would increase from $10 to $25 on both plans. The plans also offer a better prescription drug benefit than what the current district offering is.

Also on Monday, Charles City Director of Finance Evan Marten facilitated a discussion on the future of substitute teacher bonus pay, and if Charles City Community Schools should include all substitutes in the bonus pay backdated to the beginning of the school year. The board decided to form a committee to gather more information on the subject.

Also Monday, the board directed Charles City Superintendent Mike Fisher to vote and sustain a resolution to remove Waverly-Shell Rock Community Schools from the Northeast Iowa Conference (NEIC).

The NEIC executive team met last week and considered a resolution presented by New Hampton Schools to initiate action that would remove Waverly-Shell Rock from the conference. This passed 5-1, with only Waverly-Shell Rock voting against.

The NEIC by-laws require each school board to consider a resolution directing the superintendent on how to vote in this matter. The superintendents will meet again as an executive team soon to vote per the directives according to the school board resolutions. If passed, the Waverly-Shell Rock would be removed as of June 30, 2023, and immediate action will begin to invite schools for an expansion.

The move is being made for a couple of reasons, including some schools considering dropping out of the NEIC because of the size disparity between W-SR and the other smaller schools in the conference, concerns over sportsmanship, and a desire to add schools to the conference but those schools refusing with the much larger W-SR being a member.

The resolution is aligned with the recommendation of a community task force which studied this matter two years ago. It passed 4-1, with board member Dr. David Schrodt voting against.

In other business on Monday, the board:
— Approved the first reading of a stock epinephrine auto-injector supply policy. District Nurses Bethany Bjorklund and Jessica Moore have worked with a group of stakeholders on developing a stock epinephrine auto-injector supply policy. This policy will allow the nurses to keep the epinephrine auto-injectors on hand at all the buildings.
— Approved a contract for the Charles City Center for Advanced Professional Studies (CAPS) to begin the 2022-23 school year. CAPS is a collaboration between business, community and education to provide students with professional experiences. It takes high school students out of the classroom and immerses them into a professional environment where they work on real projects for various businesses and organizations in the Charles City area.
— Heard from Charles City Director of Operations Jerry Mitchell, who facilitated a discussion on the possibility of filling in the pool at the North Grand Building. Mitchell said that the plan is to fill in and cover the pool and use the area for a multi-purpose space to be utilized by athletic teams, fine arts groups and as a gathering room. The board will consider giving Mitchell permission to seek contractors’ estimates for the project at a future meeting.
— Approved the resignation of Aleczander Goodsite, second shift custodian, effective April 15.
— Approved the resignations of Tyler Downing, head girls basketball coach; Tad Barry, 9th grade basketball coach; Karleen Sickman, girls basketball; and Steph Hervol, 8th grade basketball, all effective immediately.
— Approved the appointments of Danielle Peterson, high school Spanish teacher; Rick Gable, Innovative Campus teacher; and Briana Brumley, middle school special education teacher, for the 2022-23 school year.
— Approved the personnel transfer of Kellie Boggess, from Washington Elementary Instructional Coach to Lincoln Elementary 4th-grade teacher for the 2022-23 school year.
— Set the date and time for a public hearing on a proposed 2022-23 calendar revision for Monday, April 25 at 6:15 p.m. in the High School Library.