North Allegheny teachers get new 6-year contract

The North Allegheny School District and its teachers’ union have a new six-year contract, which is one year longer than usual.

The new pact starts July 1 and ends June 30, 2026. It was unanimously approved by the school board Wednesday and was earlier ratified by the North Allegheny Federation of Teachers.

“I find this particular contract innovative,” said board Vice President Andrew Chomos, who was on the district’s negotiating team. “The common theme that ran through our dialogue was maximizing our teaching time with students.”

The new contract defines the school day by minutes, not periods, “allowing the district for years to come flexibility to come up with the most innovative ways to teach and instruct our children,” he added.

Board member Allyson Minton, who was also on the negotiating team, said the contract allows the district to “continue to modernize our curriculum.”

“The educational landscape is shifting so rapidly in the 21st century,” she said.

Mary Hawley, director of human resources, said the contract also includes “more frequent, more team-centered professional development,” with teachers doing more hands-on development with peers instead of listening to a speaker in an auditorium.

“I believe we will be an innovative leader in how we define professional development,” she said.

The contract also adjusts the salaries in the 16-step scale, adding a larger jump near the top of the scale in order to retain experienced teachers, she added.

John Harrell, federation president, said the union has spent more than 20 years developing a

collaborative relationship with the district. “Whenever you have management team and administration and a school board working collaboratively with a teachers union, everyone is going to benefit from it,” he said.

There are 697 teachers, librarians, counselors, psychologists, social workers, nurses, technology integrators and speech therapists in the bargaining unit.

In related business, Ms. Hawley presented the midyear human resources report and noted that the state is experiencing a shortage of teachers.

The state Department of Education noted a 39.9% reduction in education majors since 2010.

In the 2014-15 school year, there were 21,999 new teacher certifications in Pennsylvania. Just three years later, the number dropped to 9,530.

“That is something that all school districts are going to have to manage moving forward,” Ms. Hawley said.

Some districts in other states have resorted to financial incentives to get new teachers to relocate, she said.

The hardest positions to fill are teachers for world languages, science and math, as well as nurses and counselors.

The state’s public employee pension plan changed July 1, shifting from the traditional defined benefit, or pension, plan to either a hybrid or a total defined contribution plan, such as a 401(k).

School districts nationwide are already experiencing a shortage of bus drivers. Ms. Hawley said that it is also difficult to fill facilities and custodial positions. “It is a competitive labor market. We can’t compete against the private sector.”