by Amanda Rink, Editor
Teachers represented by the Clarion-Goldfield-Dows Education Bargaining Team have advocated for a 5% salary increase across all licensed positions within the district. The CGD Board of Education stated on Tuesday that the request wasn’t feasible given the current financial limitations of state legislation.
In a statement read by Superintendent Joesph Nelson during the public portion of the meeting, the CGD Board of Education expressed appreciation for the dedication and hard work of its teachers, and overall staff. While acknowledging the importance of competitive wages, the statement explained that the district is not receiving additional funding beyond the expected 2% to 2.25% increase in state aid. Because of this, board officials said they cannot meet the 5% request.
Instead, the district proposed a two-year contract as an alternative. Under this plan, teachers would see a 2.65% average increase in the first year, making sure that salaries meet the minimum thresholds required by the state. Other employees would receive a $1,600 raise. In the second year, the average increase would be 2.49%, with the same salary minimums and a $1,500 raise for other staff.
This would result in a total pay increase of 5.06% over two years, which is slightly more than the Bargaining Team’s first request but spread over a longer period. As an added incentive, the district also offered to reduce the number of contract days from 191 to 190 if the two-year agreement is accepted. The proposal aligns with recent legislative changes in Iowa, which require teachers to be paid a beginning salary of 50,000 as their beginning wage for the fiscal year 2025-2026.
After presenting their counteroffer, the school board went into a closed session for further discussion. At the writing of this article, the bargaining team and the school board are in discussions leaving the team to decide if they will accept the revised offer or push for further negotiations.
At this time, no decisions have been made public.
