The Mehlville Board of Education unanimously adopted the memorandum of understanding, or MOU, between the Mehlville School District and its teachers April 28. 

The MOU had been ratified earlier the same day by members of  the Mehlville National Education Association. 

Under the MOU, teachers will get the standard step raise and a $500 increase to the base salary.

“I would definitely say that this year was a win-win and I wouldn’t even consider the time we spent together as two different teams. We really became one because we focused on specific things,” Assistant Superintendent Jeff Bressler said. “Keeping our focus on supporting (district) goals was important. Many times throughout the process we pulled up the district’s strategic plan.” 

Two teams, one comprised of representatives from the district and one comprised of district teachers, spent the past three months hashing out the terms of the contract. District representatives included Bressler and Executive Director of Human Resources Jennifer Hansen, as well as two building principals and administrative staff. Teacher representatives included MNEA negotiator Chris Tice, and teachers from elementary, middle and high schools in the district. 

“We built on pride in the workforce, trying to retain quality teachers which is so important. We focused on several things (like) competitive pay,” Tice said. “This year we were able to fix some of the problems of the past and build pride in our workforce.”