Gary Community School Corp discusses tentative two-year teacher contract with raises, stipends and ECA changes

The Gary Community School Corp board on Nov. 6, 2025 reviewed the terms of a tentative two-year teacher collective bargaining agreement that would adjust base pay, add quarterly attendance and supplemental stipends, change several extracurricular stipends, and revise leave and scheduling language. Board members discussed details but did not vote; final action is scheduled for the board's Nov. 13, 2025 meeting.

Ms. Svickovich, the administration presenter, opened the discussion and said the tentative agreement is posted on the district website and was presented in line with Indiana Code 20-29-6-19. "This is not an action item, but a discussion of the terms proposed in the tentative agreement," she said, adding that "it is a 2 year contract with a reopener for wages in 2027 only." The board did not take action at the Nov. 6 meeting.

Under the proposed terms, the 2025–26 starting base salary would be $51,884. The compensation plan would include eligibility-based increases for 2025–26: a $1,000 increase tied to academic-needs criteria and a $500 increase for teachers rated effective or highly effective on evaluations. Ms. Svickovich summarized those provisions and noted an increase to the district's top salary range to $83,200.

The draft also establishes a quarterly attendance stipend intended as an incentive to reduce substitute-teacher costs: "every teacher who misses 0 days per quarter will receive a stipend of $300. If a teacher misses 1 day per quarter, he or she will receive a stipend of $200," Ms. Svickovich said, adding that the district does not expect the stipend to increase overall budget outlays because it reduces substitute coverage costs.

Supplemental payments of $500 are proposed to be distributed in December and May. Eligibility requires a teacher to have worked a minimum of 120 school days as of Nov. 14, 2025 to receive the December stipend and 120 school days as of May 1, 2026 to receive the May stipend; teachers must also be employed by Gary Community School Corp at the time of stipend distribution.

The agreement proposes changes to extracurricular assignments and stipends (ECAs). Ms. Svickovich said the contract would add a girls wrestling head coach stipend of $4,500 and an assistant stipend of $2,000, mirroring the boys wrestling allocation; add a girls-only flag football stipend of $2,000; and add eSports stipends of $1,500 for high school and $1,000 for middle school. It also deletes several ECA positions that have not been filled in recent years, including a media club assistant and certain elementary and secondary music and booster positions.

Other personnel provisions reviewed included a revised bereavement policy to provide five working days for an immediate family loss to be used within 30 days; a renaming of seventh-period prep to a "planned period stipend" (middle and high school planned period pay would be $50 per class period; elementary planned period pay would remain $37.50 per class period); and pay for new hires without a professional teaching license (for example, emergency permits or alternate permits) starting at $49,000, with those hires ineligible for base-salary increases until they obtain a professional teaching license.

Board members asked clarifying questions about the attendance stipend and timing of stipend payments for new ECAs. In response, Ms. Svickovich said the attendance stipend applies every quarter and that extracurricular stipends are paid according to each activity's season schedule and disbursed after the season ends.

No vote was taken on the tentative agreement. The board moved, seconded and approved a motion to adjourn at the close of the session. Final action on the teacher collective bargaining agreement and public comment on the agreement were scheduled for the board's next regularly scheduled meeting on Nov. 13, 2025.