Ridley OKs new five-year contract with teachers’ union

RIDLEY TOWNSHIP » Ridley School District teachers are getting a raise.

The Ridley School Board and the Ridley Education Association have reached an agreement on a new five-year contract – including a 1.9 percent salary increase for teachers each year.

Starting salary for teachers with a bachelor’s degree in the Ridley School District is $45,641. For a teacher at the top of scale, with a master’s degree and 45 credits beyond a master degree, and at least 15 years experience, the salary is $105,729 in the first year of the new agreement. According to Superintendent Lee Ann Wentzel, 45 percent of district teachers are at the top of scale.

The negotiations that led to the new deal stand in sharp contrast to collective bargaining efforts four years ago when teachers, who had been working without a contract for more than six months before an agreement was reached, conducted informational picketing at various school sites.

The school board signed off on the new deal at its March meeting.

“It took us only three meetings to reach a contract,” school board President Mike Capozzoli commented. “The teachers and professional staff and the (school) board team acted in conjunction with each other.”

The contract will run from July 1, 2018, through June 30, 2023, and calls for a 1.9 percent salary increase for teachers at the maximum of scale in each of the five years of the contract. Others will receive an average of $1,000 to $1,900 a year.

“We are extremely pleased,” union President Matt Noggle said of the new contract.

Teachers will contribute more for their medical benefits to maintain the percentage of contribution during the term of the agreement. Also included is mandatory mail order maintenance drugs, and specialty injectable co-pays.

The board also approved a $50,000 check from the estate of Olga Maksymchuk that will be earmarked for scholarships for graduating seniors. The woman operated a gift shop in the township for many years.

Capozzoli, who was a member of the Ridley Township Business Association for decades, explained that when the association dissolved a few years ago all funds left were to be turned over to the school district, including the Maksymchuk bequest. He said the money will be used to fund five $1,000 scholarships to be awarded at graduation time, until the money runs out.

For about 40 years the business association raised money to provide up to 10 $1000 scholarships to seniors who lived in the township, regardless of the high school from which they would be graduating.

In another financial matter, the board approved a $1 million line of credit renewal from TD Bank. Wentzel said the line of credit is in place of a bond issue.