Teachers, paras, nutrition services and secretaries receive wage increases in Iowa City schools

IOWA CITY — The Iowa City school board on Tuesday approved wage increases for teachers, paraprofessionals, secretaries and nutrition service workers.

The increased wages for teachers move salaries for first year teachers in the district to the state required minimum of $50,000.

A bill signed into law by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds in March 2024 requires schools to pay first year teachers $50,000 by the fall of 2025, and $62,000 for teachers with at least 12 years’ experience.

School districts receive increased funding through the Teacher Salary Supplement — per-pupil categorical funding to help pay teacher salaries — to meet these new salary minimums.

The district also is paying teachers with 20 years’ experience a retention bonus of $1,000, and teachers with 25 years experience a retention bonus of $2,000.

Teachers also receive incremental increases in salary based on years of experience and any advanced degrees earned through accredited organizations recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Each step was increased .2 percent, according to board documents.

The base wage for paraeducators was increased to $16 an hour for Class I paraeducators and $17 an hour for Class II paraeducators.

Paraeducators with an Iowa Paraeducator Certification or Childcare Development Associate Certificate will receive a differential of $1 an hour.

The school board also approved a $2 differential for special education paraeducators whose job assignment is with a student classified as a complex case at least 50 percent of the time by the special education and human resources department.

Special education paraprofessionals who cover for a colleague who receive the $2 an hour complex case pay differential would receive a temporary differential of $1 an hour for the period they are covering for the colleague for a minimum of three consecutive days.

Base wages for nutrition services workers in the district will be $16.40 an hour for Class I employees, $17 an hour for Class II employees, and $17.60 an hour for Class III employees.

Base wages for Class 1 secretaries is $17.75 and for Class II secretaries is $19.

Secretaries who speak another language and pass the base level of interpreters assessment will receive an additional $1 an hour.

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