Approved unanimously by Lakota’s school board Tuesday night, the contract also includes a completely new salary schedule, giving Lakota teachers a 1.97 percent base salary increase in the first year of the contract, followed by 2 percent raises in the second and third years.
Under the extended contract, the product of seven weeks of negotiations between the district and the Lakota Education Association, teachers also will receive a $650 stipend each year for the next three school years.
Teachers also will receive a 1.97 percent cost-of-living adjustment each year of the 3-year contract, a measure that never before has been offered by the district to its teachers.
Eliminated under the new contract are step increases, which are designed to allow a teacher’s income to grow over the course of many years while not receiving a promotion.
Step increases typically occur more frequently in the first decade of a teacher’s career, then occur less frequently during the remainder of their tenure.
That makes it easier for the school district to forecast what expenditures will be on a long-term basis as it contends with not only contracts, but state budgets and other influencing financial factors.
The cost-of-living adjustment allows for more consistency in wage-increase planning, according to Jenni Logan, the district’s treasurer.
“It takes a compensation system that was complex and mysterious and makes it simple and transparent,” Logan said.
A contingency in the new contract allows the district to reopen contract discussions on economic issues such as wages and health insurance in the third year should state funding decrease by various amounts.
Lynda O’Connor, the board’s president, said that contract represents “a transformational change” for Lakota and ensures long-term fiscal stability, along with long-term multimillion dollar savings.
“What we came out with were three things that were very important,” she said. “Financial stability, cost savings and more opportunities for students, and I am very thankful for the collaborative work that got us there.”
The agreement also “affirms the outstanding work” of Lakota teachers and appropriately compensates them for the value that they bring to the district’s schools, O’Connor said.
Sharon Mays, president of the Lakota Education Association, said the new contract provides stability.
“Every year we’ve had negotiations, it seems like, so then we’re talking about how the work day looks, what the money package looks like, Mays said. “This solves the whole work day condition.”
The new contract also offers yet-to-be-finalized financial incentives for teachers who adopt innovative and efficient methods to boost student achievement and performance.
That contract included a provision to reopen negotiations for the second and third years on the issues of salary, insurance, evaluations, and expiring memorandums of understanding.
Teachers voted May 20 to ratify the new employment contract.
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