CL teachers ask for 7.11 percent pay increase

The Clear Lake Education Association (CLEA) made its initial contract proposal--   a proposed 7.11 percent total package increase in salary and benefits for the 2015-16 school year-- to the Clear Lake School Board Monday. The package includes the District’s notification of a 4.29 percent health insurance premium increase. 

The Board of Education made its first contract offer during its regularly scheduled Feb. 23 meeting.

Contracts are negotiated for 190 days of service.

The CLEA’s proposal would create a 5.5 percent increase in teachers’ base salaries ($30,720 to $32,420) and supplemental pay would go up 6.7 percent ($25,493 to $27,192).  Each annual longevity percentage on the salary schedule would go up 1 percent and staff members would receive an additional $40 per month for tax-sheltered annuities.  

According to Clear Lake School District Business Manager and Board Secretary Lorna Leerar, the proposal would cost the district an additional $507,486, including FICA and IPERS.

Other changes to the contract proposed by CLEA include:

•Granting up to 10 days of school/work days of absence per contract year with full pay for funeral leave for any death, not just that of an immediate family member.  Currently up to seven days funeral leave are offered with full pay in the case of death in the immediate family;

•Increasing the number of personal leave days from two to four;

•Increasing duty-free lunch breaks by eight minutes;

•Granting two additional weeks of adoption leave;

•Reimbursing retiring teachers for unused sick time; 

•Increasing a tax sheltered annuity provided by the district by $40 per month ($220 to $260).