The Tooele County School District will bump up the salary of a first year teacher by $3,858 as part of a plan to attract teachers from a competitive market.
The 11.6 percent increase takes effect for the 2017-18 school year.
All other teachers in the school district will also receive a $3,858 raise, according to a tentative collective bargaining agreement between the Tooele Education Association and the school district.
The two groups announced the salary increase and tentative settlement agreement on Wednesday morning.
“We set a board goal to increase employee compensation and set up a recruitment and retention plan a year ago,” said Scott Rogers, Tooele County School District superintendent. “But the teacher shortage and competitive market for teachers in our area has definitely impacted our planning and timeline.”
The terms of the tentative agreement will increase teacher compensation by 9.06 percent for the school district, according to Rogers.
As part of the agreement, the school district will also pay an additional $488,000 in insurance premiums to help cover rising benefit costs.
The agreement is subject to final approval by the school board at their June 13 meeting.
The salary increase will be funded by the increase in the state’s student enrollment based funding, according to Rogers.
The 2017 state Legislature increased the value of the weighted pupil unit, which is the dollar amount used in a formula that determines state support for basic school programs, from $3,184 to $3,311. The amount is a 4 percent increase.
The school district will also use some of its reserve fund to pay for this plan, Rogers said.
TEA leaders are pleased with the terms of the tentative agreement.
“We want to keep our great teachers and meet the needs of all students in the district,” said Rick Harrison, TEA negotiations chairman. “We look forward to working with the district in future years to see this agreement fully implemented and see Tooele County School District become a destination spot for the best teachers in Utah.”
The school district also announced a tentative agreement with the Tooele Education Support Professionals Association.
The tentative agreement calls for a 2 percent increase in salaries for classified support professional employees, and a 3 percent increase in salaries for para-professionals.
“I appreciate the positive efforts of everyone involved,” said TESPA President Kim Jorgensen. “The district has taken steps with TESPA to address many concerns of our dedicated support professionals.”
Earlier this month, the Granite School District Board of Education approved a $41,000 salary for first year teachers and an 11.6 percent increase for current teachers.
Maintaining competitive salaries in the current market with a nationwide teacher shortage is hard for school districts like Tooele. A lower tax base puts the district at a disadvantage, according to Rogers.
Tooele County School District’s $268,000 of assessed property value per student is the seventh lowest out of 41 school districts. The lower tax base requires a higher tax rate to produce the same amount of revenue as in school districts like Park City, which has $2.7 million of assessed property value per student, he said.
“We are already funded less per student compared to other area districts,” Rogers said. “This makes the equalization issues in Utah funding of public education even more problematic.”
Salary and benefits for classroom teachers in Tooele County School District ranked at the bottom of Utah’s 41 school districts, according to the 2015 State Superintendent’s Annual Report.
“We are in a highly competitive market based on a statewide and national shortage of teachers,” Rogers said. “We truly value the professional and support employees we have in Tooele County School District. This is a great first step, but we must do more as we are able.”
TEA leaders also said that this tentative agreement is only a beginning to improve teacher recruitment and retention.
“We appreciate the ability to work as a team with our executive board and district administration on a long-term plan to address teacher retention and recruitment via competitive compensation,” said TEA president Bob Gowans.