Pleasant Valley board ratifies 2026–27 wage packages, one-time stipends and several personnel policy changes

The Pleasant Valley Community School District board approved negotiated wage-and-benefits packages for certified, classified and administrative employees for 2026–27, including a one-time $1,000 stipend paid in two installments and changes to salary schedules and personnel policies.

District staff framed the package against the district’s budget context: certified enrollment declined, triggering a budget guarantee that, together with other factors, produced $444,253 in identified "new money" for 2026–27. Administrators also proposed using open-enrollment surplus (20 students, estimated at $162,960) and savings from not filling two second-grade positions (about $175,000) to supplement available funds.

Under the negotiated agreement the teachers’ association ratified, the district will provide a $1,000 one-time stipend (split as $500 in December 2026 and $500 in June 2027) and an overall total-package increase that district staff described as approximately 2.16% for classified and other employee groups. Presenters said that, across the teacher ranks, the net effect yields increases that range from roughly $1,300 to $2,100 depending on experience; the presentation also included an updated, more-equal salary schedule.

Administrators described insurance decisions and options: the district considered two approaches and said employees selected a path that keeps monthly single and family premiums effectively increasing by about $8 and $18 per month respectively compared with the prior year while holding deductibles and maximum out-of-pocket levels constant. Staff also described a plan to continue raising coaching and sponsor stipends (an additional 16% of current stipend levels next year) and noted robotics and other activities as examples of stipend increases.

Staff explained staffing moves: four new positions were proposed for 2026–27 (a high-school social-studies teacher, a special-education teacher, an additional family & consumer sciences 0.5→1.0 FTE, and an elementary dean), offset partially by savings from not filling two second-grade positions. Presenters said the district is monitoring enrollment closely and may close or reduce sections if numbers decline further.

Trustees approved three separate motions on the record: the certified employees package (motion and roll-call vote), the classified employees package, and the administrative employees package. Each motion passed on roll-call votes recorded as 'yes' by all trustees speaking in the transcript.

Administrators also presented two policy revisions to be returned for formal adoption at a future meeting: an early-retirement benefit change that ties additional retirement-day credits to years of service and clarifies that retirement calculations use an employee’s highest base salary; and revised certified-employee handbook language and displacement-transfer protocols that emphasize communication with displaced teachers, timelines, seniority application and use of Article 4 layoff procedures if no position is available.

The district indicated staff will publish the negotiated salary schedules and update the employee handbook language, and the board scheduled remaining budget/levy hearings in late April and a May meeting where additional approvals may appear.