School contracts approved

Benny Westcott

The Sweet Home School District Board on Monday, Feb. 13, unanimously approved a 2023-2026 licensed professional agreement between the Sweet Home Education Association (SHEA) and the district.

About 96% of SHEA’s members approved the contract before it came to the board, a number that Certified Representative Steve Thorpe, a math teacher at Sweet Home High School, called “extraordinary.”

The agreement specified a 6.25% increase to the 2022-23 salary schedule in 2023-24 for all licensed teaching personnel in the district, as well as school nurses, counselors, and speech-language pathologists. It also outlined that if Lebanon School District settled for a cost-of-living adjustment exceeding 5% for the 2023-24 year, this professional compensation article would be reopened. A 3% increase to the 2023-24 salary schedule for 2024-25 would follow, with another 3% increase in 2025-26.

“I’m pretty proud of what our district did for our teachers,” Thorpe said of the contract. “It’s going to keep people here.”

He said that district administration “let us know we’re valued. They let us know we’re appreciated. And you cannot say, ‘Well, I can drive 13 miles down the road and make more’ anymore. They made us congruent with other school districts our size, but we exceed them now in some areas.”

He discussed entering negotiations with Superintendent Terry Martin and District Business Manager Kevin Strong, and how he was pleased with the administrators’ proposal.

“They handed me this paper and I was like ‘OK, where’s the fight?'” Thorpe recalled. “I was almost giddy. It was monumental. This is something that doesn’t happen. I’ve never seen or heard some professionals sit down together, that are friends and in a community, and say, ‘OK, what is the best thing that we can do for you teachers, and what is the best thing that we can do for our district to keep great teachers?’ And I got to witness it.”

“This was professionalism at its greatest,” he added. “This showed that our district is strong.”

Thorpe harkened back to actions taken during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

“During that time, this school, this board, and this community got to see some pretty incredible things happen in this community and our school,” he said. “And I’m very proud of what happened. And then we didn’t hit easy street last year, but we worked through some things and came together.”

He mentioned the district’s 88% graduation rate, which was above the state average.

“You just see great things keep happening, and when good people are allowed to do good things, I think you see a great place to be,” he said. “You can always find somewhere else to work that pays you more, but you’re going to have a hard time finding somewhere else that is this good of a place to work.”

According to the agreement, the district shall contribute up to $1,392 per month toward an employee’s insurance premium during the 2023-24 insurance year. That contribution grows to more than $1,467 per month and then $1,542 for the subsequent school years. If the year-to-year increase for health insurance premiums increases by 8% or more, the district and union will calculate and split the difference, provided that it results in a higher contribution amount.

Additionally, the agreement gives SHEA members three days of personal leave per year, whereas the previous agreement gave two.

Board members Mike Adams and Kevin Hill abstained from voting on the agreement to avoid conflicts of interest. Adams’ wife and Hill’s son are both teachers in the district.

The board also:

— Heard that year-to-date spending is a little more than $805,000 above where the district was at the same period last year. According to Strong, the increase was due primarily to higher labor costs.

— Unanimously approved an agreement for the Linn Benton Lincoln Education Service District (ESD) to provide a local service plan for the 2023-24 school year.

“This is an ongoing support from the ESD to us,” said Martin. “When we’re not of the size to have specialists in certain areas, they help support that. They also support us in training and instruction.”

— Accepted a donation from Aimee Farrell to the Sweet Home School District McKinney-Vento program, specifically for homeless teens.

— Accepted the resignation of Sweet Home Junior High math teacher Tim Faulconer, effective June 19, 2023.

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