INDIANAPOLIS — There was a full house at a Hamilton Southeastern Schools (HSE) public hearing. It was a pre-bargaining hearing, which is part of the formal process to begin contract negotiations.
Dozens walked into HSE’s district office Tuesday evening, dressed in all red as a united front for an important plea to the school board about increasing teacher's salaries.
"Spending money on teachers is something that tends to have a strong and reliable return on investment," a HSE parent said.
"We passed a referendum last year, and we specifically passed a referendum in this community in order to support our teachers. And right now, we're not quite sure where that money is going, but we would like to know where that money is going and where the raises are for our teachers," Craig Frawley, an eighth-grade teacher and co-bargaining chair for HSE, said.
Frawley said a teacher's starting salary is about $48,000, which eventually tops out at $89,000 with a Masters Degree.
"What I wonder is what you think is going to happen if the school board doesn't support our teachers," Megan Leahy said.
Leahy said showing up to fight for HSE teachers was a priority for her.
"They are saying that we are losing students every year, and we're going to keep losing students, and we're going to lose incredible teachers if this is not done the way it should be," Leahy said.
In last month's school board meeting, some board members raised concerns about the restructuring of the referendum.
"I felt that we were not fully transparent on where the dollars were going, and we were doing a disservice to the teachers. Here we are now, and we are going to have to re-vote to increase the referendum to make up for dollars we could not manage appropriately," Tiffany Pascoe, HSE Board of School Trustee, said.
"We're being told now that there's no money for teachers and yet, our insurance premiums will increase. This is a pay cut," a HSE parent said.
At the end of the meeting, WRTV’s Amber Grigley asked HSE’s superintendent Pat Mapes for comment, and he declined her request.
The next meeting will be Wednesday, October 9 followed by the official bargaining meeting on October 21. The deadline for the referendum is November 15.
