Pleasant Valley School Board approved a 15% pay increase over last year’s salary for entry-level teachers in the new collective bargaining agreement with the Pleasant Valley Education Association.

“The increase in Step 1 was to remain competitive with the Monroe County schools, because PV had the lowest Step 1 salary in Monroe County,” said Superintendent James Konrad. “Since more than half of our teachers are at the top step, we know that retirements will occur and our salary schedule in this new contract will help us to attract and retain professional staff members.”

The school district uses a salary schedule chart with steps from one to 14, as well as factoring in the teacher’s degree level and number of years with the school district. Teachers are eligible to move up a step after they have completed 90 or more student days of employment.

The largest increases are in Step 1 for teachers with a bachelor’s degree, but also with those with a master’s degree, and lesser so but not too shabby, with those with a doctorate. A master’s degree saw a 11.9% increase over last year, whereas the doctorate saw a 7.4% increase. The lowest increases were for teachers at the top of their career at Step 14 doctorate. That increase was 1.5%.

“We need to have a competitive beginning salary compared to the other districts in Monroe County, in order to attract quality teachers to Pleasant Valley,” said Susan Kresge, the president of the school board.

Comparing the Step 1

Entry-level teachers this school year will be offered $60,642. It was $52,642 last school year. That’s an $8,000 increase.

The salaries for new hire teachers will continue to increase with each year of the contract. For the 2026-27 school year, it increase by 8.6% to a salary of $65,867. For 2027-28, it increase by 9.7% to a salary of $72,281. And in the last year of the contract 2028-29, it increases 6.9% to $77,275.

A teacher with a master’s degree, starting at Step 1 will make $63,642 in the first year of this new contract, which is an 11.9% increase over last year. That same position in the second year goes up 8.2% to $68,867; 9.3% to $75,281 in the third year, and 6.6% to $80,275 in the fourth year.

A teacher with a doctorate starting at Step 1 will make $86,842 in the first year of the contract, which is a 7.4% increase over the old contract. The second year has a salary of $92,067 or a 6.9% increase; $98,281 or 6.7% increase in the third year. The fourth year has a 5.9% increase to $103,275.

Stipends

The collective bargaining agreement also provides a stipend of $1,000 annually for teachers who are assigned to the following classrooms: Life Skills, Emotional Support, Physical Support, Autistic Support, and Multiple Disabilities.

Similarly, teachers who obtain and maintain national board certifications also are given an annual stipend of $1,000. These certifications are 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.

The new collective bargaining agreement began July 1 and runs through June 30, 2029, and was approved during the Oct. 23 school board meeting. It states that both parties can reopen and renegotiate the contract beginning on January 2028 for the 2029-30 school year.

“I am very grateful to our Board Negotiation Committee and the PVEA Negotiation Committee for working together to agree to a fair and collaborative contract that will create consistency and continuity at PV while honoring our excellent staff members and creating opportunities to attract future staff members,” Konrad said. “We are on the right track and making excellent progress at PV.”