The Center Grove School Board Monday morning made some historic changes for its staff and the public.
The school board unanimously approved raises that would make the minimum teacher salary $44,169, up 8%. The base salary increase will raise the top teacher salaries in the district to $85,298. The starting salary was $40,849, and the top salary was $78,888.
Past raises were about half of that, having hovered around the 3-4% range. Teachers’ salaries are based on experience, according to district documents.
Center Grove will spend $3.9 million on the raises for its 1,233 staff members, including 515 non-substitute teachers, said Stacy Conrad, district spokesperson.
Along with the teacher salary increases, most support staff members will get a raise of 7%, while extracurricular positions, such as coaches outside the standard bargaining unit, will receive 3.5% raises.
With the changes, almost every staff member will make at least $15 an hour, with the exception of a few temporary positions, said Jason Taylor, assistant superintendent of human resources and technology.
The increases are needed at a time when teachers are starting to look at other jobs due to increasingly hostile relationships with parents, said David Lawson, co-president of the United Teachers Association of Center Grove.
“This is a historic increase in compensation. The board and administrators outdid themselves this year,” Lawson said. “There are challenges we never anticipated. Many teachers are afraid of doing their own thing, sharing their personal opinion, handing out the wrong essays. Teachers are being hectored, shamed on social media, and are talking about leaving this profession and district because they fear our community.”
Also during the special meeting Monday, the school board changed its public participation policy.
Now, members of the public can only speak on action items, which are items on the agenda that the board is voting on. Previously, members of the public could speak on any agenda item, even the Pledge of Allegiance.
Community member Bill Collins called the changes ridiculous.
“The agenda thing is ridiculous. You know it is. We know it is,” Collins said. “This is an attempt to limit voters in the community addressing issues we don’t agree with. There are many other ways we’ve tried to speak to the board. You’ve tried to silence us on every one of them, including our way of being placed on the agenda, even when we submit several weeks in advance.”
The previous policy on the district’s website, dated March 2012, said anyone who wanted an item added to the agenda had to request it at least four days in advance. The new policy increases that to 10 days.
That policy was actually changed this March, but is not reflected online, said Rich Arkanoff, superintendent.
The board voted 3-1 in favor of the policy changes. Board member Amy Counts voted against it due to confusion about the policy posted online.
During recent school board meetings, members of the public have focused mostly on masks, Critical Race Theory and social emotional learning during public comment, though in most cases, those items were not on the agenda.
Parent Kara Cecil complained about the public participation policy.
“We are trying to follow these rules,” Cecil said. “I followed the rules and you still denied me.”
Even if parents request to be on the agenda at least 10 days in advance, school board president Jack Russell is not required to approve their requests, Arkanoff said Friday.
