Dublin teachers and staff will get a 2.25% pay increase for the 2027-2028 school year, a smaller raise than the 3% the district approved in 2025 and 2026.

The Dublin City School District Board of Education voted 3-0 on Monday, Sept. 14, to approve the increase for all employee groups, including teachers, support staff, administrators, technical employees and hourly non-union workers, the Columbus Dispatch reported. The board has five members. The Dispatch did not identify which three voted or whether two members were absent or recused.

The lower raise reflects financial pressure. The district's five-year forecast, the most recent publicly available version, projects cash reserves will turn negative by fiscal year 2030, reaching a shortfall of roughly $23,520,060. The forecast was prepared by Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer Brian Kern in February 2026.

Donna O'Connor, president of the Dublin Educators' Association, the district's teachers union, said the union agreed to the lower figure with that forecast in mind.

"I think this was the best, safest option to present to … over 1,400 members," O'Connor said at the Sept. 14 meeting.

The board approved two memorandums of agreement, one with the Dublin Educators' Association (DEA) and one with the Dublin Support Association (DSA), the support staff union. Both contracts were also extended: the DEA contract now runs through July 31, 2028, and the DSA contract through June 30, 2028. DEA pay increases take effect Aug. 1, 2027. DSA increases start July 1, 2027.

Under the updated salary schedule, a first-year teacher with a bachelor's degree will earn $56,492. Pay tops out at $100,565 after 18 years with the district. Teachers with master's degrees follow a higher scale.

The forecast projects total expenditures growing to nearly $372 million by FY2030 while revenues reach only about $317 million. Nearly 85% of district spending goes toward wages and benefits, according to the district's Fall 2025 United Magazine.

Superintendent Jennifer Schwanke said the agreements set the stage for future collaboration between the district and its unions. Schwanke took the post Aug. 1 after the resignation of former Superintendent John Marschhausen, WOSU reported in July.

The DEA and DSA contracts expire in mid-2028, and the district's forecast shows cash reserves dipping below zero by June 30, 2030.