Woodstock District 200 teachers to see raises of 5%, 4.5% in first 2 years of new contract

Teachers in the Woodstock Council of Teachers, the Woodstock School District 200 teachers union, will see annual salary increases under a new contract approved Tuesday night. The new contract is lengthier than the previous one, which ran from 2021 to this year. The new contract will run from August 12, 2024, through August 2029, District 200 Director of Communications Kevin Lyons said.

The new contract contains a 5% increase for teachers in the 2024-25 school year, with a 4.5% increase in the 2025-26 school year and a 4.25% increase in the 2026-27 school year. The final two years of the contract have increases tied to the Consumer Price Index, according to a news release from the school district. Those increases have a floor of 3.25% and a ceiling of 4.5%, according to the release. The raises include increases teachers get for additional years of seniority, or steps, as well as for longevity, according to the contract.

The increases are nearly the same for the district’s custodial union, whose contract was also approved Tuesday night and goes into effect July 1. However, custodial employees hired in the 2023-24 school year will have a 6% raise next school year rather than 5%, according to the contract. The custodial contract also includes a $300 semi-annual perfect attendance bonus, up from $150 per year in the old contract.

The new teachers union contract allows for three personal days per year, up from two in the previous contract. Meal and lodging allowances for staff travel are also significantly higher in the new contract. The new contract gives a meal allowance of $100 per day, up from $60, and a lodging allowance of $200 per day, double the current amount, according to the contract.

The base salary for a newly hired teacher with a bachelor’s degree in the 2024-25 school year is $43,889, according to the contract. That same teacher would then have a base salary of $45,861 in the 2025-26 school year and $47,855 in the 2026-27 school year, assuming the teacher doesn’t pursue any higher education.

In the 2023-24 school year, a teacher with a bachelor’s degree and no seniority had a base salary of $42,673, according to district documents.

Co-curricular stipend pay is also increased. The previous contract had a base rate of $1,621 per year for the entire contract, while the new contract has a base rate of $1,702 in the 2024-25 school year, $1,779 in the 2025-26 school year and $1,854 in the 2026-27 school year.

A new committee was also formed as part of the contract to review student grading policies. The committee will have at least four Woodstock Council of Teachers members and four District 200 administrators or board members.

“This process will cycle between the three levels for the next three school years. The Elementary School committee will meet in 2024-25, the middle school committee in 2025-26, and the high school committee in 2026-27. The committee will provide feedback each year to the Board of Education,” according to the contract.

“We are proud of the education District 200 provides, highlighted by our Dual Language Program, our Dual Degree and Dual Credit programs and our overall academic growth. We offer a high-level education for our students and our families, which should be credited to our teachers,” District 200 Superintendent Mike Moan said in the release. “This contract will help us maintain and exceed that level of quality education while also remaining fiscally responsible.”

The Woodstock Council of Teachers could not be reached for comment Wednesday.