The Pleasant Valley School Board approved the collective bargaining agreement with the Pleasant Valley Education Association. Teachers’ salaries to increase on average by 4.15%

The contract was passed unanimously at their meeting on Aug. 28. School board director Melanie Zipp was absent.

Superintendent James Konrad thanked the negotiating teams of both the Pleasant Valley School District and the Pleasant Valley Education Association (the teachers’ union) for working on the contract.

“I just want to express my sincere appreciation for the Pleasant Valley educations Association and Pleasant Valley School District’s negotiation teams, as well as the board of directors for approving this agreement,” Konrad said. “Their dedication and cooperative spirit over the past eight months has led to a successful contract and proving what can be accomplished when we’re working together and really focus in on our students’ future.”

The contract is effective for four years from July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2029. It covers wages, benefits, days off, and a myriad of other items such as educational reimbursement, severance and retirement.

Prior to the vote, business manager Tammy Smale went over the highlights of the agreement.

“One of the larger pieces of the agreement is the salary information,” she said.

Smale explained that there are salary increases for each year of the four-year agreement.

In the first year, teachers will receive a 4.01% increase. In the second year, the increase is 4.05%; the third year is 4.15%, and the fourth year is 4.37%. These salary increase are before health care concessions.

“The average salary increase of the four years is an average of 4.15%,” she said.

The agreement spells out a range of salaries in four charts for each year of the contract. A person’s salary is determined by what level the employee is on between Step 1 and 14, and intersected with the academic degree level — bachelors, masters or doctorate — plus years of experience.

For the 2025-2026 school year, the range goes from $60,642 for a new teacher at Step 1 with a bachelor’s degree to $104,242 for a teacher with a doctorate at Step 14.

In 2026-27, that Step 1 is now $65,867 and the Step 14 doctorate is $106,967. By the last year of the contract in 2028-29, a Step 1 bachelor’s degree is now $77,275 and the Step 14 doctorate is $113,575. Everyone else falls somewhere in between those salaries.

There are also some incentive stipends.

Teachers who work at least 91 days in a life skills, emotional support, physical support, autistic support or multiple disabilities classroom will receive an additional stipend of $1,000.

Similarly, teachers who obtain and maintain a national board certification through the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, the National Board for Certification of School Nurses or the American Nurses Credentialing Center, the American Speech — Language — Hearing Association, the National Association of School Psychologist, or the National Association of Social Workers also will receive a $1,000 stipend.

Smale said the second largest piece of the agreement is the health care benefit package. Employees will pay a little more in their co-pays for a specialist, urgent care or emergency room, as well as the spousal surcharge, and the premium share, but dental insurance coverage was expanded.

Smale said the tuition reimbursement caps also were expanded with a carryover option, and personal leave accumulation was added.

“The average annual impact on the budget is 3.62%, and I just want to note that the 3.62% does not mean a 3.62% increase to taxpayers,” Smale said.

She explained that the percentage fits into the projected budgets for the next four years and keeps any possible tax increases to 2% or less.

“This was huge; this last part of it for both sides,” Smale said. “The agreement will allow Pleasant Valley to be competitive with the other Monroe County districts at all levels in order to attract and retain professional staff employees.”

School board director John Gesiskie asked if the large salary increases for teachers was due to the school district being on the lower end of the scale in the area. Smale said yes, in particular to the salary for teachers just starting out and those at the top level.