A day after voters renewed an operating referendum, the Duneland Teachers Association ratified a new two-year agreement with the Duneland School Corporation.
The Duneland School Board Monday held a public hearing on the contract that covers the district’s 374 teaching employees.
The board will have a short special meeting Friday to vote on the contract, which is retroactive to July 1, 2025, and runs through June 30, 2027.
Under the proposed terms, most teaching employees will receive salary increases of $3,000 and a $500 stipend.
First-year employees will receive a $2,500 increase and a one-time payment of $500.
Starting pay for teachers will increase to $56,500 for this school year and $59,000 for 2026-27 under the new agreement.
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Assistant Superintendent Robert McDermott noted how the school district has significantly improved the pay for teachers during the past few years. The starting wage was $39,000 in 2016-7.
Duneland School Corporation ranked 8th in Indiana for teacher pay coming into this school year. With the increases granted in the new contract, McDermott said he believes the school district will be in the top five.
“We’ve come a long way and I want to thank the board for helping us to retain and attract teachers,” McDermott said.
The contract also covers health insurance and wages for supervision of extra-curricular school activities. McDermott said the contract also grants the right to reopen wage negotiations in the second year concerning health insurance only, if the increase is more than 4%.
Bobbi Hall, co-president of the Duneland Teachers Association, noted that when she started teaching in the last century, her salary was about one-fourth of what a new teacher makes now.
Hall said that the new contract agreement was reached in a collaborative and professional manner.
“I want to express my sincere appreciation to the school board, administrators and community, especially at this challenging time in the shadows of SEA 1 (Indiana Senate Enrolled Act 1). We recognize that this community supports and values its schools,” Hall said.
Voters on Nov. 4 approved an 8-year renewal of an operating referendum that provides up to $16.1 million annually for the school corporation. The vote in effect means that Duneland area residents agreed to give most of their property tax savings from SEA 1 to the school district.
In other business, the school board approved girls lacrosse as a new sanctioned sport.
Girls lacrosse had been operating as a club team. Starting in the spring, Chesterton High School will have a girls lacrosse team operating as an official sport under the rules of the Indiana High School Athletic Association.
Jim Woods is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.