Jennings County holds public hearing on tentative one-year teachers’ contract with $1,250 stipend

At a public hearing, the Jennings County School Corporation presented terms of a tentative one-year contract for the 2025–26 school year that would provide a $1,250 stipend in lieu of a base-pay increase and make modest changes to leave, insurance and grievance procedures.

Nikki, a district presenter, opened the session and said the materials were posted on the district website and that the board will vote on the agreement at its November board meeting. "This is the timeline. Today is the public hearing. We would be voting then to approve on [the] November board meeting," Nikki said.

The tentative agreement would allow horizontal (lane) movement on the salary schedule via a board resolution to recognize additional education, but future level changes would require an initial practitioner's license, courses from the Indiana-approved list that apply to the content area, and superintendent approval.

Under the proposal, personal leave would increase from three days to four days. Association business time for bargaining-team members and officers would increase from six days to a cumulative total of 10 days, and five additional days could be used from sick leave for paternity and adoption purposes (up to 20 days total). The district also presented updates to health, dental and vision insurance through its CICC consortium, saying medical rates would rise by about 5%, dental costs to employees by about 12.5%, and vision rates would not increase.

The district would provide every teacher an all-sports pass for corporation events, excluding tournaments and IHSAA- or fine-arts-sponsored events. Nikki said language in the extracurricular (ECA) appendix was updated to reflect grandfathered dates and clarified class-coverage language and stipends; she added that proposed processes for splitting stipends among coaches are informational and not part of the bargaining contract.

Nikki described an update to the grievance procedure to match state practice by adding a fourth step that allows grievances to go to the board after the superintendent, and she outlined the timeline the board would follow to review and answer such requests. The contract would also include language permitting an early retirement incentive if the board chose to offer one; Nikki said the board would notify employees by Feb. 20 of parameters and teachers would have until March 20 to accept.

"It is only a 1 year contract," Nikki said, explaining the district's fiscal reasoning for proposing a one-time stipend rather than a permanent base increase. Regarding the proposed stipend, Nikki said, "that base stipend would be $1,250."

Molly, a representative of the Jennings County Classroom Teachers Association (JCCTA), thanked both bargaining teams and said the union's membership had ratified the tentative agreement. "Our members voted this in very highly. It was, very much like a 90% vote in," Molly said.

No members of the public offered comment during the hearing, and no board members asked further questions. The presiding official adjourned the hearing after the presentation.

The board is scheduled to consider the agreement at its November board meeting; no formal vote was taken at the public hearing.