Warsaw School Board approved the collective bargaining agreement between Warsaw Community Education Association and Warsaw Community Schools unanimously Tuesday, with one abstention. The one-year agreement is for July 1, 2014, through June 30, 2015, and is limited to wage, wage-related benefits and salary. The contract is also the same contract approved last year with a small difference in the compensation model, according to Superintendent Dr. David Hoffert. According to the agreement, eligible WCS teachers may earn up to eight units if rated “effective” or “highly effective” on the WCS RISE evaluation model. The earnings will determine raises, said Hoffert in Tuesday’s meeting. Teachers receiving an “ineffective” or “needs improvement” rating are not eligible to earn units. Units available to earn include: evaluation – teachers who are rated as “effective” or “highly effective” earn five units; years of experience – teachers who were employed 120 or more days during the 2013-2014 school year earn two units; and leadership – teachers who actively participated on a Professional Learning Community team during the 2013-2014 school year earn one unit. The eight units will be added to the teacher’s base salary and each unit has a value of $37.50. Tuesday was the last day the board had to approve the contract. The contract will now be forwarded to the Indiana Department of Education and the Indiana Employment Relations Board to be approved. After approval by the state, the contract will take effect. The board also moved to approve the transportation levy appeal resolution. The resolution requests an increase to the WCS transportation fund maximum levy in the amount of $240,740 to cover two-thirds of the increased costs of health care for those employed in the transportation department. The resolution would increase taxes by approximately 1 cent to mitigate any additional costs in healthcare, if approved by the state. “We’re appealing because the state-allotted amount for universal healthcare won’t cover our needs, so we want to increase that budget,” Hoffert said. Now that the board approved the resolution, it will be submitted to the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance along with the remainder of the 2015 budget. The department will consider the appeal and provide the board with a response.
