NAZARETH TEACHERS GET RAISE

The Nazareth Area School Board approved a four-year extension that keeps teachers under contract through August 2015.

Teachers will get 3.75 percent raises each year starting in September 2011. They are due to get 4.65 percent raises that last two remaining years of the current deal, which expires Aug. 31, 2011.

The early bird pact assures the district will avoid the protracted negotiations that continued for three months beyond the expiration of the previous contract.

“We don’t get our students caught in the middle as we did in the past,” said Superintendent Victor Leksy. “It was the right time. Everyone agreed to the circumstances.”

During negotiations for the previous contract in 2006, teachers complained the district scaled back health care coverage without negotiating changes. Lesky said the teachers and administrators agreed to split the cost of increases in coverage. He said family coverage costs about $34 per paycheck. Single coverage costs $21 per pay. He said health benefits costs have increased about 7 to 15 percent a year.

Lesky said the teachers approached the administrators in September about an early bird contract. They met about three or four times. The teachers approved the pact Monday afternoon. The board approved it 7-0 on Monday night. Board members Thomas Maher and Chris Audenried abstained. Lesky said they endorse the contract, but their wives are district support staff employees so they chose not to vote.

Lesky said the contract decreases the number of work days for teachers from 190 to 189. Teachers will have more flexibility on how to complete in-service training. Under the current deal they spent six days in in-service training. Now there are three six-hour days, three four-hour days, and various 90-minute programs they can attend after school.