By Jessica Karins
CHARLOTTESVILLE — The Eastern Hancock Community School Corporation has approved a new contract with teachers that will offer them a stipend to deal with the additional expenses of COVID-19, rather than a raise.
All full-time teachers at the corporation will receive a stipend for the year of $1,920.14. Those who do not teach a full schedule, or teach less than a full academic year, will receive a prorated stipend. Additional compensation will also be offered to those who give up their preparatory period during the day to teach an additional class.
Eastern Hancock superintendent Dave Pfaff thanked teachers at the most recent meeting of the corporation’s Board of Education for a smooth negotiation process.
Dana Sparks Allen, a member of the Eastern Hancock Educators’ Association, said the association felt the process went well considering the decrease in revenue school corporations have seen due to COVID-19.
“While base raises would definitely have been preferable, we were, under the circumstances, very pleased,” she said.
The school corporation has also announced plans to hire a new assistant principal at Eastern Hancock Elementary School, which has not had that position in the past. Pfaff said the job description will be a mix of traditional principals’ office responsibilities like helping with student discipline, supervision of teachers, and communication with parents, as well as some that were handled by the corporation’s director of technology. The person who held that position resigned this summer.
Pfaff said having an assistant principal will enable Eastern Hancock Elementary principal Amanda Pyle to do her job more efficiently as well.
“Mrs. Pyle is doing an excellent job, but I wanted to provide her support, especially in these days, the handful that it is trying to keep a building going educationally as well as battling COVID,” he said. “I thought this was an opportunity to make us better, to take an administrative position and re-define it into something that would be even more beneficial to us.”
Pyle said the responsibilities of her job have grown as the student population of the elementary school has increased. Although it is slightly down this year, as a result of parents choosing to home-school their children, she’s had even more on her plate thanks to COVID-19 and the resignation of the director of technology, Trisha Armstrong.
“Each year as the (Department of Education) makes additional requirements for schools, it gets a little more difficult for me to do my job by myself,” Pyle said.
For the new job, Pfaff said, the corporation is looking to hire someone with an administrative license, a strong background in curriculum, and good communication skills. Pyle said she would want someone with experience in elementary schools, and who is a good fit for the corporation’s culture.
“We really believe in a small school where everyone is a family,” she said.
Pfaff declined to offer a range for how much the new hire would be paid, saying it would depend on what kind of experience they have.
Allen said the re-allocating of resources from Armstrong’s position to create a new administrative job makes sense, and that she hopes the administration will continue budgeting wisely.
Two of Hancock County’s other school corporations, Southern Hancock and Mt. Vernon, approved contracts this year with raises available based on teacher performance. Greenfield-Central Community School Corporation will continue with a two-year contract it ratified last year.
Allen said there is still work to be done on the issue of teacher pay.
“We are in regular contact with our state legislators and hope that they and Governor (Eric) Holcomb will take a serious look at teacher compensation and school funding in the upcoming legislative session as they build the next state budget,” she said.
