HOPE — Flat Rock-Hawcreek School Board members ratified the master contract with teachers at Tuesday’s board meeting.
In the contract, the base salary for all teachers will be increased by $1,500, with the agreement including a 3% increase to health insurance and an additional $150 on the base for any teacher who has a literacy endorsement.
A literacy endorsement is a credential for teachers that is added to their existing license, showing that they have advanced knowledge and skills in literacy instruction.
This is a one-year contract. Usually, the corporation creates two-year contracts with the teachers. With uncertainties about the budget and changes with the state, board members said they not feel comfortable going over a year.
The uncertainties come from Senate Enrolled Act 1. This act will change the structure of local income tax as well as property taxes in Indiana that will start in 2027.
With the $1,500 increase to the salary for teachers, the base pay for a starting teacher will be $47,500, and the scale will top out at $87,000.
The board will pay the 3% increase on the health insurance, including non-certified staff.
“It was well received by the teachers and we want to keep moving that needle and stay competitive around us,” said Flat Rock-Hawcreek’s Superintendent Shawn Price. “It’s overall a good contract… Fortunately, our enrollment has been steady, and we were able to provide this.”
An addition was made to the contract before being ratified. A head varsity coach who is also a full-time employee of the school corporation will be paid the same as a varsity coach with 13 or more years of experience, regardless of how many years of experience they may have. This will bump every varsity head coach to the top of the school corporation’s scale of pay for the position.
“This is to really incentivize and say ‘Hey, if you’re going to be a coach, we’re going to bump you all the way to the top end of the scale,’” Price said. “All of our varsity head coaches will get that extra bump even in their first or second year.”
