The master teaching contract was approved in a 7-0 vote by the board.
The 2009-2010 contract includes a salary scale increase of 2 percent from the 2008-09 scale.
The contract also updates the teacher seniority list as well as changes the retirement incentive to allow eight teachers to retire and receive a one-time $25,000 contribution to an annuity account.
Language was also added to the contract to allow a one-time deposit into members VEBA account of three quarters of one percent prior to Dec. 31, 2009.
Adjustments and language in the extra-curricular scale were also made.
Prior to the contract's approval discussion was opened.
Superintendent Dan Sichting explained, "I hope the state doesn't cut us (funding). But, if the state cuts us we'll have to make cutbacks..."
That will definitely play into the future, he added.
Board president Marvin Helms commented on the timely manner in which the contract was reached.
"It was good to get it done in a nice, timely fashion," he said.
Collective bargaining on the tentative agreement began on Oct. 5 and two bargaining sessions were held with the Bloomfield Teacher's Assocation.
The tenative agreement was ratified by the BTA Oct. 28.
BTA President Ben Helms also commented on the process.
"I was tickled to death, it was done in such a civil and friendly manner," he explained.
In a 7-0 vote, the board also approved a two percent increase to the support staff wage schedule retroactive to July 1, 2009.
During discussion, Sichting commented that the increase "was a minimum cost that was less than $20,000 to do."
He also stressed that the support staff deserves the increase.
Helms also noted, "I'm just glad you got this done. It makes for a better climate."
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About freaking time. Bloomfield doesn't respect its teachers enough.
OK Bloomfield does not respect them, but yet they got a 2% increase.
As small as that my seem allot of Indiana teachers are getting nothing they are losing there jobs all together.
Well usually they don't get their increases on time, but I'll say one thing. The collective bargaining at the school has gotten a lot better ever since Dan Sichting was made superintendent. Although this doesn't really apply to the contract, I would like to see foreign language taught at Greene County schools earlier, maybe around the second grade.
The $25000 incentive to retire early is a good thing. Maybe some of the teachers will take it so in future years Bloomfield will have "above state average" scores on the ISTEP.
Isn't it a shame that Bloomfield has come to wish for above state average scores? I believe 2% is too much if you give raises based on performance.
Standardized test should be done away with. A child is not a test score. You can't give performance based salaries, because some teachers will boost grades to get the raises.
Isn't that one of the purposes of the ISTEP, to grade the teacher and how well they prepare the kids? The only way a teacher can boost that grade is to do a better job teaching.
Kids may not learn the necessary material in order to excel at college if the teachers are required to teach around a test. There are a lot of things kids need to know outside of ISTEP material. The ISTEP is for the sole purpose of seeing which schools in the state are the most successful and then the most successful schools get "rewarded" with funding. What about the schools that didn't do so well that probably need that money more?
I agree ISTEP does force teachers to teach to the test. I think that is a shame also.
I'm not sure about the other schools, but I know Bloomfield teaches to the ISTEP test. This is what makes the BELOW AVERAGE ISTEP scores at Bloomfield even more disappointing.
Most, if not all, of the Math curriculum is centered around the ISTEP test. They are constantly given tests/quizzes/worksheets that have questions that are identical to the type of questions that are on the ISTEP, but yet the the teachers are not able to adequately prepare our kids.
Maybe one of the reasons is because of the many Disney/kids movies that are shown. I have no problem with movies that are subject related or educational, but the movies that have been shown are rediculous. These movies were not shown as a reward for good work, but used as more of a baby sitter.
I think maybe the fact that they've moved the ISTEP to spring might help a little. Last year on the elementary ISTEP there were questions that not even the teachers could figure out so some teachers from the county wrote a letter to the state.