ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, Ind. - The Penn-Harris-Madison Board of School Trustees unanimously voted Monday night to approve a 7% base salary increase for teachers in the district.

The salary increase affects 2022-2023 contracts. Retroactive increases from August 2022 through November 2022 will be paid no later than December 2022.

The new salary range for P-H-M is now $44,940 to $77,412.

“With this salary increase, P-H-M has one of the highest starting salaries in the region,” said P-H-M Board of School Trustees President Chris Riley. “In a competitive market and a national teacher shortage, the P-H-M Board supports the administration's collaborative negotiations with the P-H-M Teachers’ Association to help attract teachers to work at P-H-M.”

Teachers in the school corporation who received an evaluation rating of "Effective" or "Highly Effective" during the 2021-2022 school year will also get an evaluation stipend of $600.

Athletic and extracurricular stipends will increase from 2% to 3%.

“It is no secret that every school district in Indiana is facing a teacher shortage. P-H-M has fared better than many districts throughout this teacher shortage. PHMTA appreciates our administration and school board members who not only put our students and parents first, but also value our great teachers. This agreement will not only help in recruiting the best and brightest, it provides a very generous increase to those teachers currently serving the PHM community,” said PHMTA President Lisa Langfeldt.