Battle Ground High School
Paul Suarez / The Columbian
The Battle Ground Public Schools board voted Monday night to approve a new two-year contract with teachers.
Teachers will get a 4.6 percent raise over the course of the contract.
In addition to more pay, teachers wanted smaller class sizes and a counselor at each elementary school. But during the course of negotiations, district officials said they couldn’t afford to do everything, so those requests were ultimately scrapped.
Mark Hottowe, the superintendent for the Battle Ground Public Schools district, said the agreement gives teachers a raise to better match the salaries of surrounding districts.
“We have the lowest class size in southwest Washington," Hottowe said. "I didn’t see class size as being as important as trying to bring our level of teacher compensation up to a more competitive arena.”
Teachers ratified the contract last week. The district and the teachers union have been negotiating the deal since last May.