Teachers Submit Second Salary Proposal
By Bill Vander Weele
The Wolf Point Education Association submitted a new salary proposal during contract bargaining with the Wolf Point School District on Tuesday, May 10.
The new proposal is for a 9 percent increase to the base salary in 2022-2023, a 4 percent increase to the base salary in 2023-2024 and a 4 percent increase for the 2024-2025 school year.
Previously, the education association proposed a 10 percent increase to the base salary for 2022-2023, a 5 percent increase to the base salary for 2023-2024 and a 5 percent increase to the base salary for 2024-2025.
The proposal would put the base salary at $35,973 for 2022-- 2023, $37,412 for 2023-2024 and $38,908 for 2024-2025.
Another change regarded longevity pay where the teachers now propose payment based on a percent of their base pay instead of $750 at the beginning of 15 years and $1,500 at the beginning of 20 years in the school district.
Patricia Toavs, co-president of the Wolf Point Education Association, said that the school district currently spends $3.628 million on teaching salaries. Under the union’s proposal, the amount would increase to $4.248 million in 2022-2023, $4.254 million in 2023-2024 and $4.496 million in 2024-2025.
Superintendent Loverty Erickson said the committee will consider the proposal at its next meeting. The next bargaining meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, May 24.
During the meeting, Toavs said she is very passionate about what the contract means to her fellow teachers. “I can’t hide how I feel at all,” she said.
She noted that the union settled on a contract last year because of unknowns regarding bills by the Montana Legislature. She said she cried when she meet with others teachers after agreeing to that contract.
“I felt like I let them down,” she explained.
The Wolf Point School District proposed two salary schedules to the Wolf Point Education Association during their bargaining meeting on Tuesday, April 26.
The Plan A package offers a 2 percent increase to the base salary for 2022-2023, a 1 percent increase for 2023-2024 and a 1 percent increase for the 2023-2024 school year.
The Plan B package proposed by the Wolf Point School District features increasing the base salary to $38,000, an increase of 15.14 percent, for the 2022-2023 school year, increasing the base salary to $39,000 for the 2023-2024 school year and increasing the base salary to $40,000 for the 2024-2025 school year.
Representatives of the Wolf Point Education Association feel that the Plan B proposal doesn’t provide suitable increases for the school district’s more experienced teachers.
