School board approve pay increase for G-E-T employees

Employees in the Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau School District will see a 4.12% pay increase for the 2024-25 school year after school board action last week.

Increases for teachers, support staff and hourly employees were approved unanimously at last Monday’s meeting, while administrative salaries required further discussion.

School officials met with leaders of the G-E-T teachers union on March 14 to negotiate pay, which district administrator Michele Butler said better matched the Consumer Price Index (CPI) than this year.

A first-year teacher fresh out of college will make $47,000 in G-E-T schools next year, up from $43,961 in 2023-24. Teacher salaries across the district will range from $47,000 to $79,483 in 2024-25 depending on years of experience, educational certificates or degrees and leadership roles.

Board member Larry Moore spoke highly of the teacher raise.

“I just want to thank everybody involved in negotiations for coming to this really good settlement. Speaking with some individual teachers, they are very happy about it,” Moore said. “I can remember years ago how contentious some of these things would get, and it’s nice to know it doesn’t have to be that way.”

Support staff and hourly employees also received a 4.12% pay increase with a separate unanimous vote.

Town of Gale board representative Adam Leavitt said the increase should keep the district competitive with area schools in attracting and retaining quality staff.

Administrative staff will receive the same pay increase as other employees next school year, but the board wanted to discuss their raise privately on Monday.

A motion to approve the administrative increase of 4.12% received a second in open session on Monday, but Moore asked to discuss the item in closed session.

Board President Pat Malone agreed to “table” the motion and bring the increase to closed session.

Upon returning to open session after a conversation that took more than an hour, the board approved the administrative increase with a 7-2 vote as Harold Olson and Larry Moore opposed the raise.

Malone said taking care of district staff is important and in line with board goals.

“I think it’s critical for our goal to recruit and retain quality employees. We weren’t as competitive as nearby schools, and we’ve gotten closer to that. It’s not always money, there’s other reasons why you would choose a place of employment, but it is important to pay quality people good money,” Malone said.

Trempealeau resident Sara Olson spoke during the public comment portion of Monday’s meeting regarding pay increases, mentioning the district’s statewide report card.

The district scored a 67.2 on the 2022-23 Department of Public Instruction school report card to meet DPI expectations, a drop from its 2021-22 score of 70, which qualified the district as exceeding expectations.

“It should be a paid-for-performance wage increase, and based on our school district numbers and report card the wage increase is not reflecting where our report card is for the district,” Olson said.

District will see elementary principal shuffle

Current Ettrick Elementary School principal and achievement gap reduction teacher Derek Newsom will become the new principal at Trempealeau Elementary School, while Melanie Bawek will replace Newsom in Ettrick.

Bawek currently works in the district as an eighth-grade science teacher.

Both employee transfers were approved unanimously by the board and follow last month’s vote to approve current Trempealeau Elementary Principal Samuel Ruud as the district’s new curriculum director.