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The board also voted 7-0 to impose the district’s final 2025-26 contract offer on teachers and other certified staff. The board voted without discussion, after meeting in closed session prior to the regular meeting.

Two Janesville Education Association members spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting, asking for a redesign in the district’s certified staff salary structure and noting the lack of opportunities for teachers to advance in salary. Six other JEA members were present as well, not speaking but showing support by wearing red JEA shirts.

Laura Mattison, president of the Janesville Education Association, expressed disappointment with the contract ultimately being imposed on teachers.

“It is disheartening that they imposed two years in a row,” Mattison said. “I mean, we’re communicating, but I think there’s still a lot of room for improvement.”

“School districts have problems retaining staff because of how Act 10 has turned school salaries into a business model,” she said, referring to a 2011 law change in Wisconsin that severely limited collective bargaining for most public employees.

Mattison said she could go to another school district and make more money due to the way salaries are structured in Janesville for certified staff.

She told the board that just because teachers are not present at every meeting, it does not mean that they are not watching them. “We wanted to make it clear that teachers do care,” she said, later expressing that “we are trying to connect with the board more.”

School Board Clerk Elizabeth Paull expressed her appreciation for the community and for their support in passing referendums in 2020 and 2024 that made it possible now to consider raises for school staff.