The Fort Dodge Community School District Board of Education ratified an agreement with the Fort Dodge Education Association on Monday night.

The agreement between the school board and the teachers’ union will be effective from July 1, 2020, through June 30, 2022.

During the school board meeting on Monday night, Superintendent Dr. Jesse Ulrich read the joint statement of the FDCSD and FDEA that was sent out to the district’s teachers late last week.

“During the collective bargaining process, the FDEA and FDCSD had several mutual goals,” Ulrich read. “1. Maintain compensation that values experience to the district and recognizes advanced learning. 2. Ensure all teachers receive additional compensation, regardless of what step they are on. 3. Increase the base wage to attract and retain high quality professionals.”

Under this agreement, the new base wage for teachers will be $38,019, an increase of $651.

Lane changes will be granted and, by allowing a neutral step movement, all teachers will receive an increase in salary by 1.74%.

“The FDEA and FDCS recognize that no agreement is perfect for both parties,” Ulrich read. “However, the association and district are committed to continuing our conversation on the best way to value and compensate our professional staff that promotes our mutually beneficial goals.”

The school board voted unanimously to ratify the agreement.

“It’s always nice when our groups and our negotiating team can work together for the betterment of everybody,” said school board President Stu Cochrane.

Ulrich noted that the district has a tentative agreement with the custodial union, which will be ratified by the union later this week. The district is also working with the paraprofessional, bus driver and secretarial unions to make an agreement with them as well.

In other business, the school board approved several bids for technology upgrades in the district.

The first bid was for $60,832.31 to SCI Communications for the Fort Dodge Senior High Fiber Optic Backbone Replacement project, replacing all the fiber optic lines in the school.

The FDSH fiber optic lines haven’t been replaced since 1997, said Jeremy Pearson, the district’s supervisor of information technology.

“We can’t keep up with the data we need to pass through that,” Pearson said.

The board unanimously approved the bid from SCI Communications. The project has also been submitted to the Universal Service Administrative Co. for approval for funding from them. Once it’s approved, the Universal Service Fund will cover 80% of the cost of the project, with the remaining 20% coming from the district’s physical plant and equipment levy. If the project is denied by the Universal Service Fund, it will not move forward, according to Pearson’s memo to the school board.

The school board also approved a proposal for $27,886 to Aercor Wireless of Eagan, Minnesota, for network switches for the new central administration office. The funding for this project will be included in the total construction costs for the renovation of the new offices.

The third technology project was to install 20 security cameras at Riverside Early Learning Center and three cameras at Senior High. The board approved a $15,975.34 bid by Tech Zone of Jefferson.

A $33,993 bid from Shimkat Motor Co. for the purchase of a new food service box van for the delivery of food and equipment for the school lunch program was also approved by the school board.

During the superintendent’s updates, Ulrich noted that the school administrators sent out communication with the district’s parents on the precautions the school has taken for the 2019 novel coronavirus, COVID-19.

“We are following the lead of the Iowa Department of Public Health and Webster County Public Health in regards to guidance,” he said. “We have received some calls from parents wondering if they’re supposed to be sending their children to school. The answer is ‘Yes, please send your children to school, unless they are sick. If they are sick, please keep them home.'”

The district’s next school board meeting will be at 6 p.m. on March 23.