Dr. Hall and Dr. Miller briefed the board on how recent state legislation will affect teacher pay, recognition stipends and the district's evaluation plan.
Dr. Hall said the state raised the minimum full‑time teacher salary to $45,000 but that the district already pays at least $50,000. He said the state increased the share of tuition‑support funds that must be spent on teacher salary and benefits from 62% to 65%.
On teacher recognition, Dr. Hall said the TAG (teacher appreciation) grant is now a competitive program limited to approximately 20% of teachers statewide and that the automatic, annual December recognition is “gone now.” He outlined the new stipend tiers discussed in state communications: a recognition stipend (about $3,500) for high performance and improving student outcomes; an exemplary stipend ($5,000) for high performance, mentoring and work in high‑need areas; and an exemplary‑plus stipend ($7,500) with additional responsibilities.
Dr. Miller provided the board with the district’s current evaluation distribution, saying 86% of teachers fall in the top category, 13% in the second category and 1% in needs improvement. “We have 86 percent of our teachers that fall in the first category,” Dr. Miller said, and noted that the district is discussing how to revise the local evaluation plan now that the state is no longer requiring the four specific category labels.
Both administrators said they expect additional DOE clarifications and plan to continue discussions with the teachers’ association before proposing local changes to evaluation procedures or recognition nomination processes.
No formal personnel policy changes were adopted at the meeting; the briefing was informational.