Poland teachers’ contract approved They will receive a pay raise each year

All teachers will have to pay
5 percent of their health
insurance premium.

By DENISE DICK

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

POLAND — The school board and union representing teachers have approved a three-year contract calling for 3 percent pay raises each year.

The contract, approved by a 3-1 vote by the school board Monday morning, takes effect Sept. 1.

Board member Frank DiVito was opposed and Ted “Chappie” Bair didn’t attend.

Superintendent Dr. Robert Zorn said the contract also calls for all 133 members of the union to pay
5 percent of their health-care premium beginning in the fall of 2008.

Zorn said that the premium this year is estimated at about $770 per month paid by the district. Assuming that cost to increase next year, he estimated each employee would pay about $40 to $45 per month toward their health insurance.

Teachers hired since 2003 have been paying the contribution since the 2003-04 school year, but next year, all teachers will pay it.

The agreement calls for 184 days in the classroom per year.

Approval

The teachers approved the contract Aug. 6 by a 68-12 vote, said Susan Flasco, president of the Poland Education Association, the teachers’ union.

She said that while there was some reluctance regarding the health-care contribution, teachers realize that’s the direction all entities are taking because of rising health-care costs.

“I really feel it’s a very good offer, and hopefully we can move forward with the new year,” Flasco said.

The contract takes the starting salary for a new teacher to about $31,654 this school year, about $32,604 next year and $33,582 for 2009-10.

For a teacher at the top of the pay scale, one with a master’s degree and 27 years of experience, this year’s pay will increase to about $63,941; to $65,859 next year; and to about $67,835 for 2009-10.

The current pact expires at midnight Aug. 31.

That one-year contract had included a 2.2 percent pay increase for the teachers.

That followed 3 percent increases for the 2004-05 and 2005-06 school years.