No teacher pay raises through 2027: MCCSC OKs contract, state grant stipends to be decided

At its regular meeting on Tuesday (Nov. 18), the Monroe County Community School Corporation (MCCSC) Board of Trustees approved a new collective bargaining agreement for teachers. The labor agreement is between MCCSC and the Monroe County Education Association (MCEA), the teachers’ union, and is effective through June 30, 2027.

The contract was approved by union members on Oct. 23. Of the 536 members who cast a ballot, 178 voted “yes,” and seven voted “no,” according to MCEA president Jenny Noble-Kuchera.

The big takeaway from the new contract is that teachers aren’t receiving pay raises for the next two years. Wages will follow the same salary grid used in the 2023-2025 contract, and movement between pay scales is suspended from 2025 to 2027. The salary range for teachers is $57,750 to $89,550, the same as it was for the 2024-25 school year.

The lack of any increase to teacher salaries comes in the context of projected district revenue losses in the millions of dollars as a result of Senate Enrolled Act 1. Natural attrition and non-classroom position eliminations have prevented teacher layoffs so far. The school board adopted the 2026 budget of about $181 million at its October meeting.

MCCSC is nine months into its two-year plan to achieve financial sustainability. Chief financial officer Matt Irwin gave the board an update about it at the Tuesday (Nov. 18) meeting. “We’ve made significant progress in nine months,” he said.

But, he continued: “Balance is not achieved. We’re not there yet. But we’re continuing to work in the right direction.”

The labor agreement outlines a $1,000 annual, one-time stipend for teachers “rated effective or highly effective” in the next two school years, 2024-25 and 2025-26. Ratings are determined by evaluations: teachers can be rated either “ineffective,” “improvement necessary,” “effective,” or “highly effective.” MCCSC’s teacher evaluation plan and rubrics can be downloaded from its website.

Of MCCSC’s 923 evaluated employees, 880 scored a rating of “effective” or “highly effective” in the 2023-24 school year, which is the most recent data available on the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) website.

Other features of the new agreement include the following:

• Increased insurance employer contribution amounts.
• Paid parental leave increases from 8 to 10 days for all teachers.
• Teachers with children enrolled in MCCSC’s pre-K through sixth grade receive a 20% discount on the Extended Day program—child supervision before and after school. The program costs $8 per child per half-day, or $16 for care both before and after a school day.
• Reduced retirement benefits: MCCSC’s matching retirement contribution will be capped at 3.5% of salary, down from 5%. This reduces the maximum benefit by about $900 annually based on pay scales.

At Tuesday’s board meeting, the board did not discuss the labor agreement before taking a unanimous vote to approve it.

State Teacher Appreciation Grant: Pending decision

A separate change to teacher compensation for the coming year stems from a revision to Indiana’s Teacher Appreciation Grant (TAG) program. It was House Enrolled Act 1001, which passed this year, that made changes to the TAG. The TAG wasn’t a topic during the labor negotiations—because it is not subject to bargaining under state law.

The revision to the TAG program will not have a big impact on the total amount of money that the district receives from the state. But the way that amount gets distributed will change—meaning those teachers who receive a stipend will receive a bigger amount, which is balanced out by the fact that far fewer teachers will receive a stipend.

The legislation aims to prevent the TAG from giving across-the-board pay increases to most Indiana teachers, and instead focus rewards on a smaller group of teachers who are shown to have a positive impact on student performance.

According to MCEA president Noble-Kuchera, about 89% of teachers statewide received the grant stipend last school year. In the 2024-25 school year, 736 MCCSC teachers received a TAG stipend, according to MCCSC communications director Sarah DeWeese. MCCSC employed 800 full‑time equivalent teachers that school year, according to Indiana Gateway data.

DeWeese said the remaining teachers were likely left out because stipends are based on evaluations from the previous year, meaning first-year teachers are not eligible.

Based on the raw numbers, around 90% of MCCSC teachers received a TAG stipend last year. But the new grant criteria set by HEA 1001 say that no more than 20% of a corporation’s teachers can receive the grant. The bill also sets stipend levels for individual teachers. There are three tiers: $3,500, $5,000, and $7,500. There are additional criteria for the two higher stipend tiers set by the IDOE, and school districts can optionally set their own local criteria.

The IDOE published TAG allocation amounts for school corporations and charter schools on Nov. 7—MCCSC is set to receive a total of $373,644. Last year, MCCSC was allocated $376,392.

This year, MCCSC employs 765 teachers, according to a September affidavit. The 20% limit works out to a maximum of 153 of 765 teachers who could receive TAG stipends. Given the roughly $374,000 available, only 106 teachers could receive a stipend, if all were awarded the lowest possible amount of $3,500.

It is now up to MCCSC administrators, working with the MCEA, to determine which teachers receive the stipend. On Oct. 31, Noble-Kuchera said that MCEA’s stance is that, of eligible teachers, those who receive the stipend should be randomly selected. “Because there is no other way that even approaches fair,” she said.

“MCCSC is currently working collaboratively with our schools and MCEA to determine how we will adhere to the IDOE guidelines and requirements for the distribution of the TAG grant,” MCCSC communications director DeWeese wrote in an email to The B Square on Nov. 4.

According to an IDOE guidance document, Jan. 30, 2026 is the deadline for corporations to submit TAG teacher information to the IDOE. Funds will be distributed to corporations by April 15. Schools have to distribute stipends to teachers within 60 business days of receiving the funds.