The Geary USD 475 Board of Education has approved the 2014-15 teaching contracts, and salary increases for administrators returning to their position in the school district.

The teaching contract includes an approximate 3.65% pay raise for teachers, a number that is higher than the 2.8% figure previously reported.  The Director of Human Resource Services Bridget Seeman explained the 2.8% increase was the the average increase per cell on the new salary schedule. “But we don’t have teachers on every single cell so when we took out the cells where we didn’t have a teacher it actually pushed the average for our teachers up to 3.65%.

The average increase for administrators will be four percent.

Board member Tom Brungardt voted no on the teaching contract. “The teaching contract also had a change in time for the start time of schools. And I thought what they did to the elementary schools was wrong. I think we’re going to have kids walking to school in the dark. I think that’s going to be a problem. ” Elementary schools will begin at 8 a.m. in the 2014-15 school year and end at 3:15 p.m.  That compares with an 8:20 starting time and 3:35 ending time during the 2013-14 school year.

On the teacher salary issue Brungardt noted USD 475 is 200th in the state for average salary, and he doesn’t believe the raise that was approved will help with that.

Brungardt also voted no on the salary increase for administrators. “Because they are 175th in the state. This might improve them somewhat, but I had a hard time voting to increase the administrator’s salaries as much as we did when the teacher’s salaries weren’t going to be improved as much.

The Board of Education has deferred action on pay increases for classified employees until their next meeting in June. They want more time to evaluate the options.  Dr. Ferrell Miller, Board President, noted they’re working on trying to do something in addition to what has already been considered for classified staff.