LOWELL | The Tri-Creek School Board ratified a tentative agreement with the teachers union Thursday, approving a 3 percent salary increase in base pay that is retroactive to Jan. 1.

The agreement also includes an increase of half a percent into the Voluntary Employees Benefits Association.

The ratification of the salary schedules is the final part of a multiphased process in which the school district and members of the Tri-Creek Teachers Organization met in committees devoted to specific aspects of the teachers' contract.

Attorney Peter Goerges explained Thursday that the process was stalled by uncertainties related to the assessment and late tax bills.

"We're usually looking ahead, but we looked back because the money trail was so disruptive," he said.

Assistant Superintendent Ray Cusic said, too, that it was difficult to get the committees together after school let out in June.

At the same time, the School Board also approved a 3 percent pay raise for support personnel. It is also retroactive to the beginning of the year.

In another money matter, the board authorized the request for a $342,750 Common School Fund loan through the Indiana Department of Education for technology.

"This is not a slam dunk," Cusic told the board, explaining that, previously, the state has approved loans for less than that requested as well as refused to grant any loan.

"It's based on the lowest assessed valuation per student. We're competing with other poor school districts," he said, adding that the loan has a 1 percent interest rate.

Robert Hopper, the Tri-Creek director of technology, said that the Common School Fund loans have kept technology education going in the district.