Iowa City school district reaches tentative deals with unions

The Iowa City school district has reached tentative contract agreements with several employee unions representing nearly all of its employees, including teachers.

The district's approximately 900 teachers would receive a 4.5 percent total package increase each of the next two school years under the proposal. That number represents not only salary but also benefits and retirement contributions.

The school board will vote on the contracts June 18. It also is to vote on two-year deals that include various increases in compensation with unions representing paraeducators, physical plant employees, secretaries and food service workers.

All together, those five collective bargaining units account for about 1,600 of the school district's approximately 1,800 employees, said Chace Ramey, the district's chief human resources officer.

Negotiations between the district and the Iowa City Education Association, the teachers union, were more amicable than in recent years, said Mitch Gross, chief negotiator for the union and a West High School teacher.

The school district's initial offer was a 1.63 percent total package increase for teachers; the union proposed a 6.75 percent bump, said Ramey, who started with the district last July.

Gross said the pay increase would be reasonable and reflective of the importance of teachers in what he classified the top school district in the state.

“We would argue that we should be paid accordingly,” Gross said.

Ramey said the teachers deserve the pay they receive and the proposed contracts leave enough room to hire more teachers for the growing district.

“We value all of our employees very much, and our teachers, we value the contributions they make in the classroom,” he said.