Mason teachers, board reach contract agreement

Emily Kemper | The Chronicle

After seven months, sixteen sessions of negotiations, and with the support of hundreds of community members, contract negotiations for Mason City Schools teachers have come to a close. 

The Mason City Schools Board of Education approved a new three-year contract they negotiated with the Mason Education Association (MEA) — the union representing Mason teachers — during the board meeting on August 27. This contract includes a 3% base salary increase for 2025 and 2026, and a 2.75% increase for 2027 for teachers, along with additional on-campus work and collaboration time for educators. The board president, Charles Galvin, said that this new contract will help staff to continue the excellent work that Mason schools have done in the past. 

“[The contract] aligns with this board’s goal to compensate our staff in the top tier of the market,” Galvin said. “I’m proud of the agreement that was reached.” 

While an increase in teachers’ salaries was a main talking point over the course of negotiations, additional time for teachers to collaborate was just as important of a consideration. These adjustments caused changes to this year’s academic calendar. Most notably, there are three fewer school days for students than in past years. At the August school board meeting, superintendent Johnathan Cooper gave an overview presentation about the new contract, highlighting the importance of teacher work-time outside of the classroom. 

“Our teachers have a lot more on their plate,” Cooper said. “And we serve a beautifully diverse community. We want to meet all the needs of all our students, so that takes time.” 

President of the MEA and Advanced Placement (AP) Government teacher Maria Mueller stated that this new on-campus work time is a way for educators to collaborate with each other without students in the building. This time will help the district’s staff to collaborate and improve Mason schools and make sure their students get the best education possible. 

“It’s really hard to have lengthy, transformational conversations with your colleagues,” Mueller said. “So we carved out some work time so we can do those things that will really help us to be more effective when we are with students.”

Negotiating this new contract took much longer than either party anticipated. Cooper said that he originally expected to finish negotiations before spring break of last school year. Part of the delay was due to conflicting schedules, but it mostly was due to the many parts of the contract that needed to be discussed. While both sides share similar objectives and want to respect the work staff members do, each party has specific duties to fulfill and perspectives they represent. For example, Cooper said the school board has to be fiscally responsible and plan for the future because they have a limited budget that is attached to taxpayer dollars. 

“We all agree we’re here for our students,” Cooper said. “We all agree that our teachers are amazing, we all agree that we’re a great place and we all want this to go well, but how we get to that final product – there’s a lot of ways to do it. So that’s the part that takes a ton of time.” 

Galvin reflected a similar view and said that at the end of the day, the job of both the school board and district staff is to support Mason students. 

“Why is it that we all spend so much time here, why is it that we all do what we do and commit so much?” Galvin said. “It’s for our kids in the classroom and to make sure that they have the best experience that they can have as students.”

While negotiations were happening over the summer, students, parents and community members rallied alongside Mason teachers to show their support. 

“We hope that the work we do with the community’s children is appreciated,” Mueller said. “It’s very nice to have that made clear to you that you have that support.”  

Mueller said there was no disconnect between the MEA and the school board, but rather conflicting ideas about how to reach a shared goal. While negotiations took longer than expected, both the MEA and board feel confident about the decisions they have made. 

“It seems so easy to say, but when you get down to it there’s a lot of detail behind the scenes,” Cooper said. “But at the end of the day, even though [negotiations] took a long time, we took the time to get it right.”