Last night, the Bellwood-Antis School Board and the Bellwood-Antis Education Association settled on a new three-year labor contract.
The new contract will run from July 1, 2007 through June 30, 2010 with teachers receiving an average pay raise of 3.66 percent over three years.
Teachers agreed to several cost containment provisions for health insurance, including several new deductibles, as well as additional staff development time.
Under health care, major medical deductibles will increase to $100 for individual in network coverage, $200 for family in network coverage, $350 for individual out of network coverage and $700 for family out of network coverage. Preventative care, well visits and regularly scheduled check-ups will remain at $20 a visit.
It was also agreed teachers will work two after school hours per marking period at pre-arranged times, equaling eight hours over the course of the year. This time will be used strictly for grade level specific staff development.
The district agreed to provide additional benefits to teachers for retirement, extracurricular activities and sick leave.
Freshman and sophomore class advisors’ salaries were adjusted from $364 to $700 and the curriculum chair persons will receive a flat rate of $1,000.
All other extracurricular activities will increase based on the salary percentage increase.
Unused sick leave will increase from $30 a day to $50 a day when an employee retires and will be placed into a 403B to avoid tax penalty.
With the contract settled, the school district and its teachers have established a state record by settling their fifth straight contract through the process of timed mediation.
According to board member Ken Loucks, the parties settled their contract within a 48 hour period by working around the clock last weekend in State College.
Loucks said it is really a great process that has worked well for the district over the past five years.
Following the board’s vote to approve the contract, Board President Donna Tyler thanked all those who attended the negotiations saying, “It’s a long weekend, but it was very productive.”
Within a half hour after the board voted, Bellwood-Antis teacher’s union President Sue Kovensky announced the teachers had also agreed to the new contract.
Kovensky said she felt the contract was more than fair and that participating in the weekend negotiations is an eye-opening experience.
“We’re very fortunate we receive tremendous support from the B-A School Board,” said Kovensky.
She also noted the advantages of timed mediation, saying it’s the way to go.
