KOUTS | Teachers in the East Porter County School Corporation will receive a 2 percent pay raise for the 2009 calendar year.

The School Board approved a new one-year contract Monday with the teachers that also calls for pay increments of varying percentages for teachers with as many as 20 years of service.

The raise mirrors last year's 2 percent pay increase.

Teachers federation President Greg Simms said Gov. Mitch Daniels' call for teachers as state public employees to forgo pay raises this year undervalued the hard and important work that teachers do.

The board also approved 2 percent raises for administrators and for noncertified staff, such as secretaries and aides.

The board also approved stipends of $125 per semester for staff members who call to place substitute teachers. Those calls usually are made in the evening, early in the morning or on weekends and are done beyond the staff member's normal work hours, Superintendent Rod Gardin said.

Also on Monday, the board re-elected Jean Gesse as president, Bob Martin as vice president and Rick McSparin as secretary.