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The Springfield Township School Board approved a collective bargaining agreement with the district teachers’ union Tuesday to extend the current teacher salary schedule by one year.
The reason for the extension into the 2010-2011 school year is to ensure continuity, avoiding any work stoppages, while the district works on two major construction projects and a reorganization of district programs, according to a press release from the school district administration.
“I think it’s a very positive move on everyone’s part to move forward with this,” school district Director of Human Resources Jessica Heffner said Wednesday.
The current contract would have expired June 30 but has been extended until the end of the 2010-2011 school year, she said.
The one-year extension of the current agreement means a 2.9 percent overall pay increase, which reflects built-in salary step movement of the teachers’ contract, which takes into account the number of years a teacher has been with the district and academic degree held, she said.
All teachers will get a raise next year under the agreement, she said.
The average teacher salary in the district is $73,000, and the maximum teacher’s salary is $97,650, the press release states.
To ensure that teachers at the maximum level of the salary scale would be eligible for a raise as well, a $1,000 longevity payment was added to the contract this year, Heffner said.
Those teachers will earn the payment only if they work through the entire year, she said.
No changes have been made to the contract with respect to group health care, the prescription drug program and required cost-sharing contribution levels, the press release states.
A one-year extension means the school board and the Springfield Township Education Association, which represents the teachers, will look to return to the negotiating table next year, Heffner said.
Both groups have been in contract discussions since October, Superintendent Wendy Royer said Wednesday.
When the school board ratified the agreement Tuesday, school board President Mal Gran shook hands with high school teacher Tom Canning, president of the Springfield Township Education Association.
“In this day and age when obviously we are struggling financially, we have the support of a fabulous teaching staff and the support of a wonderful union who represents them,” Gran said.
