Center Grove presents tentative two‑year teacher contract with pay, benefit and minimum‑salary changes

At a public hearing, Center Grove Community School Corp officials described a tentative two‑year teacher contract negotiated with the United Teachers Association that would provide new base pay and a set of one‑time and ongoing changes to compensation and benefits.

Dr. Taylor, who presented the agreement, said the contract replaces an older 18‑point compensation model with a five‑point system anchored to evaluation and retention metrics and that the district will not include a reopener clause for the second year. "But, just wanna be clear, that's why we are kinda putting out there that it's a 2.1% base increase," Dr. Taylor said, adding, "And then the second year, 1.6% base increase." The year‑one increases are described as new money to the collective bargaining agreement; Dr. Taylor estimated roughly $1,630,000 in new compensation when layered with other provisions.

The agreement would add two one‑time flat bonuses: a $75 payment for teachers who hold a literacy endorsement "as defined by the Department of Education," and a $1,000 one‑time bonus for teachers who earn a new master’s degree in a content area recognized by the Department of Education. Dr. Taylor said the $1,000 bonus would be applied retroactively to 2023 to correct recent changes.

The district also proposes a minimum annual salary of $52,000 for new and returning full‑time teachers, applied after the five‑point base increases "so that we don't have any leapfrogging of other teachers," Dr. Taylor said. He described a separate "catch‑up" provision to honor prior professional teaching years for employees who have worked for Center Grove for 10 years, intended to move long‑tenured staff up the schedule toward parity with new hires.

Other contract provisions described at the hearing include increases to the extracurricular (ECA) schedule over the next two years (transcript phrasing indicates increases quoted by the presenter as "2% at 1.5%"), expanded compensation for virtual‑campus teachers, and a certified‑staff sick‑day buyback/severance payout set at $40 per day (with a 95% attendance threshold for the full payout and a $20 per day payout for attendance above 90%). Dr. Taylor said employees could appeal to the superintendent for extenuating circumstances affecting eligibility for the buyback.

Dr. Taylor also told the hearing the Indiana Teacher Retirement Board of Trustees approved a 0.6% increase in retirement contributions effective Jan. 1, which the district will need to fund. On health benefits, he said the district projects employee cost increases in coming years but continues to support a “rather rich HSA contribution” and will cover the 100% increase for dental premiums that took effect in 2025.

On funding, Dr. Taylor said the district did not rely on new state funding to pay the increases; instead, leaders identified administrative reductions and energy savings that freed capital to be redirected to compensation. "This is not new funding from the state that made this possible," he said, adding that tightening administrative budgets and energy savings allowed the district to fund raises.

Board members invited public comment; none spoke. The board did not take a contract vote at the hearing and is scheduled to consider ratification at a board meeting on Friday at 7:30 a.m. Speaker 1 closed the hearing after a motion and second and a voice vote in favor.

What happens next: the full contract and ratification vote are expected at the scheduled Friday board meeting; no final action was recorded at the hearing.