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Board approves negotiated agreements that boost starting pay, staff wages; district expects a multiyear deficit
Summary
The Rapid City Area School District board approved negotiated agreements that raise starting wages and increase pay for current employees. District staff said about $4 million in additional compensation will be paid next year and that the general fund will likely run a roughly $3 million deficit as a result.
The Rapid City Area School District Board of Education on Thursday approved a package of negotiated agreements that raise starting wages and increase pay for current employees, board staff said.
The agreements include differentiated allocations by employee group: classified staff and administrative/technical staff received a baseline 3% increase, generally funded teachers saw placement-grid increases tied to the state aid formula while special education–funded teachers received a flat $5,000 increase, and special education paraeducators received larger increases than general-education paras. The district also raised bus-driver starting wages to roughly $20 and $20.55 per hour for assigned and unassigned drivers, respectively.
Why it matters: District negotiators and board members framed the package as a targeted effort to recruit and retain staff in a tight labor market. Quay Sasse, a district staff member who led the negotiations presentation to the…
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