The board approved a resolution to raise the school corporation’s minimum full-time teacher salary to $50,000 for the 2024–25 school year through a one-time supplemental payment.

Dr. Taylor summarized the resolution as a continuation of an initiative that began in 2022 and said the board’s action would authorize the superintendent to issue supplemental payments equal to the difference between a teacher’s current full-time 2024–25 salary and $50,000. He said the payment would be effective on the Jan. 17 payroll and would apply to teachers whose salaries are currently less than $50,000.

Dr. Taylor said the estimate was about 76 teachers who would receive payments and that recipients’ experience in Center Grove ranged from one year up to three or four years. “We’re asking the Board... that they allow the superintendent of schools, to be authorized to pay a supplemental payment to any full time teacher with a 2024–25 salary that’s currently less than $50,000 annually, equal to the difference between their current salary and that number of 50,000,” Taylor said.

Taylor noted the board could revisit the matter in future collective bargaining or budget discussions and that the payment did not guarantee a permanent minimum salary level beyond the current school year. He also said the payments would be paid from cash balance at the end of the year and were not currently budgeted.

Board members spoke in favor, citing competitiveness and a conservative approach to using available funds. A motion to approve the resolution passed by voice vote; the minutes record the ayes and that “the ayes have it.” No roll-call tally appears in the meeting transcript.

The board did not specify the exact dollar total for the supplemental payments during the public presentation; administration provided the teacher count (about 76) and the effective payroll date.