WARREN Teachers, board approve agreement

By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- The school board and teachers union have approved a contract providing raises of 3 percent the first year and 3.25 percent and 4 percent in the second and third years.
School board members unanimously approved the pact at a meeting Tuesday. It runs from June 30 through June 29, 2005.
"I think it's a good contract and I feel very good about it," said Linda H. Metzendorf, school board member. "With the help of the teachers union, we were able to bring all six unions together to talk about our increasing costs for health care."
Frank Caputo, district executive director of personnel, said changes in the health-care plan saved the district about $541,000. Besides the teachers union, other unions that agreed on the changes were the bus drivers, custodians, aides, painters and secretaries.
Caputo said such cooperation is almost unheard of in the state.
About the changes
Jeff Pegg, president of the teachers union, said the changes came in union members agreeing to pay more for their prescription plan. The unions have an insurance committee that usually meets one to two times each month. Meetings increased to three times some months while the health-care issue was being discussed.
Pegg said he's satisfied. "I feel it's a fair and equitable contract," he said.
Negotiations started in February. The teachers union previously rejected a tentative contract, but the president said it wasn't because of money.
One issue was professional development. The tentative agreement called for 36 hours while the approved pact calls for 18 hours.
Robert L. Faulkner Sr., board member, said he was pleased everyone stayed focused on what is best for the schools and the pupils.
Under the agreement, a teacher's base salary, which was $25,530 annually for the 2001-02 school year, increases to $26,296 next school year. It bumps to $27,151 annually for the 2003-04 school year and to $28,237 for the 2004-05 school year.
The pact also calls for a teacher with a doctorate degree, who is at the top of the scale in terms of years of service, to earn $57,612 annually next school year and $59,468 and $61,824 in the second and third years of the contract.
dick@vindy.com