Warsaw School Board approved a teachers contract and the issuance of general obligation bonds, as well as adopted its 2024 budget on Monday.
On the teachers contract between Warsaw Community Schools administration and the Warsaw Community Education Association, Superintendent Dr. David Hoffert said there will be a 5% average raise this year for certified staff.
On Oct. 10, he said there will be an increase of $2,200 on the base salary for first-year teachers. The starting salary for first-year teachers is $45,800. For year two, the increase would be $1,500, making the starting salary $47,500. There were also some changes to extracurricular and coaches’ salaries.
Monday, Hoffert said there will be a retro pay on Wednesday to certified staff dating back to the start of the school year.
The board also adopted its 2024 budget.
The proposed budget totals $100,297,061. The educational fund is $52,669,000. The operations fund is $26.5 million. The debt service fund is $16,544,061. The referendum fund is $2,884,000. The rainy day fund is $1.7 million.
In September, Chief Financial Officer April Fitterling said there should be no impact on the tax rate from the budget.
The last item the board approved Monday was the issuance of general obligation bonds.
Fitterling said the maximum requested will be $8 million in general obligation bonds for the projects.
In July, Fitterling said some of the projects the school corporation has talked about doing possibly starting in spring or summer 2024 include replacing windows at Harrison and Eisenhower elementaries, improvements at the Warsaw Area Career Center and work on athletic fields.
She said it will be tax neutral.