NORTH MANCHESTER – The Manchester School Board had its first look at the proposed model for 2012-2013 teacher pay at its April 10th meeting.
Schools Superintendent Bill Reichart said the new model is prompted by changes in state funding, and stressed that these are the early stages of development. The model could change dramatically before adoption, he said.
The school board cannot officially negotiate with the Manchester Teachers Association until Aug. 1. Reichart said they’ll “try to be as transparent as possible with parents and teachers” while developing it.
The teacher compensation model proposes a base salary of $31,100. All teachers would be grandfathered at current salary.
A teacher’s cumulative total units would be number of years teaching times six, capped at 180 CTUs for teachers with 30 or more years. A stipend rather than compensation increase will be given after that point.
New teachers would be given CTUs based on experience, degree, education level and expertise, to be determined by the superintendent.
In the proposed model, teacher compensation will be based on five areas: experience, evaluation, attendance, leadership and professionalism. Compensation increase depends on an overall assessment of “effective” or “highly effective.”
Base units will be counted for experience, evaluation and professionalism, and stipend units for attendance and leadership.
For 2012-2013, a teacher’s base units will be multiplied by a to-be-negotiated dollar amount. That will become the teacher’s new base salary when added to his or her current base pay.
Stipent units will be counted for 2013-2014, but will not become part of a teacher’s base pay.
Deficit financing would result in no compensation for that year, according to the proposal, and could result in a decrease.
Also during the meeting, the board approved a $2 million bond issue to fund high school building improvements. The current bond carried on the building will be extended 3-1/2 years and there will be no increase in tax rates.
One million dollars will be needed to replace the high school roof, and the rest will go toward upgrading electrical and wireless systems in preparation for a one-to-one device initiative for 2013-2014.
