Knoxon board approves 2025–27 teacher contract tied to STARS Act funding

The Knoxon School District board voted to approve a two‑year collective bargaining agreement covering 2025–27 after board members and union representatives described negotiated changes tied to the state’s STARS Act.

District leadership said the board negotiated eight items and that the agreement was the result of committee work with the union. Superintendent and negotiating‑team remarks explained how the board plans to use the estimated $80,000–$82,000 in STARS Act funding to raise the district’s base teacher pay to $41,613 for 2025–26 and $42,861 in the following year. The district described that funding as being applied directly into the salary matrix to avoid a shortfall.

Key provisions summarized by district staff and union representatives include:

- Raising the salary base to $41,613 in 2025–26 and $42,861 thereafter (STARS‑dependent). - Compressing initial steps so teachers with fewer than five years are placed at a higher starting step to qualify for STARS funding without producing a shortfall; trustees said this reduces recruitment gaps while controlling immediate payroll increase risk. - Adding a retirement incentive and a one‑per‑school sick‑leave buyout option limited by seniority and annual caps (board described a tiered buyout formula and caps tied to years of service). - Revisions to extra‑duty stipends, nursing, Envirothon advisor, BPA and other activity pay; some stipends were increased or dropped per negotiated language. - A requirement that teachers who opt out of district insurance provide documentation of alternate coverage to receive the opt‑out stipend; grandfathered employees maintaining prior stipends were clarified.

During the discussion trustees asked for numerical spreadsheets and matrix calculations; administrators said the district has the CPA calculations and an implementation plan, and noted language that would allow renegotiation if STARS funding or state policy changed. Two trustees recorded abstentions during the voice vote; the motion nonetheless carried.

Trustee and public questions centered on budget exposure if the STARS funding or state policy changed, how subsequent steps are adjusted following the compression, and whether implementation spreadsheets were available to board members. District staff said they would provide the CPA copy and implementation calculations and that protective language is included to renegotiate if state funding changes.

The board approved the collective bargaining agreement by voice vote; the motion carried with recorded abstentions.