Clarksville settles contract with teachers

By TARA HETTINGER
Tara.Hettinger@newsandtribune.com

May 15, 2008 10:49 am

— The teachers association and administration at Clarksville Community Schools agreed on a contract for the current 2007-2008 school year, which includes a 2.1 percent pay raise for teachers.
The final agreement was made Tuesday night, said Superintendent Steve Fisher. He said the delay came from the county not collecting property taxes on time, a problem that was impacted on the state level. He said those numbers are necessary to put into a formula, which determines raises every year.
“We’re behind because we can’t get this reassessment issue straightened out,” Fisher said, referring to the method of determining property values in Indiana. “Because of that, we’ve had to borrow money a couple of times and pay interest on that money, and that hurts.”
The pay increase will be retroactive to the beginning of this school year. This increase is in addition to the automatic pay raises teachers receive for their first 17 years of teaching, according to the teachers association president Anne Bird.
“Last year was a lean year [with a] 0 percent raise. So, receiving a 2.1 percent raise is always something to smile about,” Bird said. “Talks on insurance have begun and we are hoping that premiums stay as is or [have] minimum increases.”
She said those figures won’t come out until late fall, since their insurance follows calendar years while salaries follow the school calendar.
Fisher said he’s pleased a deal has been reached.
“We’re very happy that we have an agreement before school’s out,” he said. “Hopefully, we can get this settled next year a lot earlier.”