The Salem Grade School Board has approved new contracts with the teacher’s association and support staff.
Superintendent Dr. Leslie Foppe says the new two year contract with the teacher’s association includes a 4.5 percent increase in pay each year plus an increased step on the salary scale. She didn’t feel comfortable entering a longer term contract due to dropping corporate income tax revenue and uncertainty over how much state aid the district will be receiving.
The new support staff contract is for three years. She reports the base salary has increased to $17.00 per hour. Foppe says they had been starting support staff at minimum wage which was making it difficult to find employees. A 50-cent an hour increase is included for employees for the final two years of the contract.
Board employees, including administrators, secretaries, and manager salaries, were increased between three and four percent.
The board met in closed session for an hour before announcing their approval of the pay increases.
In personnel action, the board hired Brittany Asroff and Kimber Organ as paraprofessionals and approved the voluntary transfer of Sheryl Wolff from cook to paraprofessional. After accepting the resignation of Brian Lipe as assistant baseball coach, Tyson Moore was hired to replace him.
