Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Personnel topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Echo SD 5 board ratifies multi-year staff contracts with pay bumps and new bonuses
Summary
The board approved two-year contracts for classified and certified employees and exempt contracts with a consistent 5% annual increase; new bonuses include return-to-work and longevity payments and a stipend for mini-bus drivers.
The Echo SD 5 board approved multi-year contracts for classified, certified and exempt employees that include a consistent 5% increase and several targeted bonuses and stipends.
For classified employees, the board approved a two-year deal that combines a 3% cost-of-living adjustment with a 2% step (a 5% total increase), a $300 return-to-work bonus in October, a safety award increase for drivers and a quarterly $100 bonus for trip and emergency drivers. The contract also revises bereavement and snow-day pay language so hourly classified staff will be made whole if inclement-weather days are not made up.
The certified contract includes a 2% step plus a 3% COLA annually (effective 5% annually), language cleanups in arbitration and health-and-safety discussions that were not added beyond existing statute and IEP provisions. The board also approved exempt staff contracts with targeted adjustments (example: a 4%/6% PERS/top-up arrangement for one administrator and an $800 per-month insurance opt-out stipend for another).
Administrators said the changes are intended to keep salaries competitive, reward longevity (bonuses up to $1,000 for teachers who have maxed out a salary schedule) and address recruitment/retention concerns in a small district where insurance costs make full-time hires challenging.
