New Greenfield Teachers Won't Make More than Last Year's Counterparts

While a number of Greenfield School District personnel will make more next school year, a new scale has been put in place to keep new hires from making more than teachers with a year or two of experience.

New teachers with no previous experience receive a base salary of $40,092, the same amount a new teacher made last year.

The plan to keep base salaries flat from year to year was approved by the Greenfield School Board on June 10. Under the old plan, a new hire could make as much or more as a teacher in his or her third year.

“We’ve got to keep that starting salary the same to keep that from happening,” interim business director Ronald Nortier said.

Nortier said teachers with a Master’s degree would qualify for a supplemental compensation package. A Master’s degree is worth an additional $2,000 tacked on to the base salary.

Supplemental dollars could also be used to recognize someone with a hard-to-find expertise.

The new pay schedule does not apply to the group of teachers who are in mediation with the district, interim Superintendent David Ewald said. Negotiations between those teachers and the School Board over compensation for both the 2011-12 and 2012-13 school year are ongoing.

And while those teachers’ salaries are yet to be decided, Greenfield NOW reported last week administrators and support staff received raises for the 2013-14 school year.

Both groups will get an average bump of 2 percent next school year, down from the 3.16 percent approved for the 2012-13 school year.