Prairie navigates changing teacher salary schedule as minimum salaries increase

CEDAR RAPIDS — Educators in their first year of teaching and with 12 years experience will see an increase to their salaries next year under a new bill signed into law by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds last month.

School districts will receive increased funding through the Teacher Salary Supplement to meet these new salary minimums — $50,000 for new teachers by the fall of 2025, and $62,000 for teachers with at least 12 years experience.

The Teacher Salary Supplement is per-pupil categorical funding to help pay teacher salaries.

The challenge for school districts now is to recreate a salary schedule for teachers with in-between levels of experience, said Angie Morrison, chief finance officer for the College Community School District.

“You can’t keep people at the same salary for years,” Morrison said. “I think most people are thinking everyone will get a $3,000 salary increase, but we’re not getting money for that.”

Currently, new teachers in the College Community School District start at just below $44,000, and 12-year teachers with a bachelor’s degree earn $58,000, Morrison said.

The new law is “great,” Morrison said. “We want to pay our teachers more.”

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The College Community School District isn’t “getting very much new money this year” with a 2.5 percent increase in State Supplemental Aid next year — the amount of funding provided per-pupil — and declining enrollment, Morrison said.

The 5,800-student school district declined by 72 kids this year.

“That wasn’t something we were expecting. With low (State Supplemental Aid) on top of that, the new money we’re getting is much lower than what it’s been historically,” Morrison said.

Even so, the district is not planning any reductions to its budget in fiscal year 2025, which begins July 1, and ends June 30, 2025.

The district’s overall expenditures are increasing about $10 million next fiscal year up to $142.5 million, Morrison said. This is partially because of a $43 million general obligation bond referendum approved by voters in November that will fund the construction of a recreation and wellness center.

Morrison said the district is fortunate to be in a strong financial position to weather a year of declining enrollment. But “If we saw another 72 students decline next year, we would have to seriously think about some of those things,” she said.

About 60 students in the College Community School District attendance boundaries are using Education Savings Accounts — private-school tuition assistance — to attend private school.

Morrison said that could partially attribute to the decline in enrollment. The district also saw more students open enrolling in — and out — of the district.

District officials feel “fairly confident” the district won’t continue to see a decline in enrollment. An study shows the district’s enrollment leveling out before climbing again because of housing developments going up within the school’s attendance boundaries.

“Hopefully, that will start to mean more kids,” Morrison said.

A public hearing on the proposed budget is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. April 22 at the College Community School District administration offices, 8005 Prairie Spirit Lane Dr., Cedar Rapids. The school board is expected to vote on the proposed budget that same day.

Under the proposed budget, property owners in the district would pay a levy rate of $16.60 per $1,000 of taxable valuation, a 1 cent decrease from the current property tax rate. For a homeowner with a $200,000 home, the property tax bill for schools would be $1,540 per year, or about $128 a month.

“Our goal is to keep our rate stable. That’s what we’ve committed to our taxpayers,” Morrison said.

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