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West Lafayette Com School Corp tentative two-year teacher contract draws criticism at public hearing
Summary
At a public hearing, the district announced a tentative two-year agreement with the teachers association; the teachers' bargaining chair said raises will not keep pace with inflation, total teacher spending is down about $100,000, and the board will take up the contract for approval on Nov. 10.
The West Lafayette Com School Corp announced a tentative two-year contract agreement with its teachers association during a brief public hearing. Dr. Breiner said the district has "reached a 2 year tentative contractual agreement" and that the contract will be placed on the Nov. 10 board meeting agenda for consideration of recommended approval.
David, the teachers' bargaining chair, spoke during public comment and said the answer to whether "the teachers are happy" is "simply no." He told the board that although "each individual teacher will receive a raise," total district spending on teachers is "down somewhere in the ballpark of a $100,000 from last year." David tied part of the shortfall to stagnant state funding, lower enrollment and decreased tax revenue, and he explicitly named the board's August vote on supply fees as a factor "that didn't come directly out of our pockets." He also warned that reducing transfers — citing a hypothetical loss that could approach "approximately a 160 transfer students" — would have significant fiscal and programming impacts.
David compared the district's outcome to neighboring districts, saying some — including Carmel, Munster, Penn Harris, Harris Madison, South Bend and Speedway — "found ways to give their teachers raises that will allow their families to keep up with inflation." He provided two numbers for the board to remember when considering compensation: "550 and 250," which he said are the increases the corporation was able to provide for "our 24 longest serving teachers over the course of the next 2 years." He also said some supplemental extracurricular (ECA) pay will not increase, noting coaches and club sponsors will see a lower overall raise because no increase was provided for those positions.
David said documents comparing teacher compensation and inflation over the last decade and percentage increases for the pending contract were provided for board review, and he asked the board to conserve and grow cash balances so additional compensation could be provided based on cash balances in January 2027. The public hearing closed without a vote; the chair confirmed no vote was needed at that time and the board will consider the agreement at its Nov. 10 meeting.
No formal motion or vote on the contract was taken at this hearing. The public record from the hearing consists of the district's announcement and the bargaining chair's public comment.
