Teachers get 1-year contract extension

BOYERTOWN » The Boyertown Area School Board agreed unanimously on Tuesday, June 12, on a one-year contract extension for district teachers.

The Boyertown Area Education Association, the union representing district teachers, has also ratified the contract extension, which was negotiated with the help of a mediator.

The agreement includes $1,500 pay raises for teachers and will increase expenses for the district by $1.2 million.

The contract extension would begin July 1 and continue through June 30, 2019, giving the district labor peace for the

upcoming school year.

The mediator issued the contract extension proposal “as a way to continue to foster the spirit of cooperation between the parties as the Boyertown Area School District is the only school district in the region which has never had a teacher strike,” according to a press release issued Monday evening, June 11, by the school district.

Additionally, the mediator is aware of the school district’s high step movement costs and believes that a transitional agreement was essential where no step movement was required, the release states.

“The mediator’s proposal is fiscally appropriate and will prove the district and its bargaining unit members with good labor relations through the 2018-2019 school year,” Acting Superintendent David Krem said in a statement. Highlights of the mediator’s proposal include:

• A $1,500 increase to the salary schedule for each step and educational attainment level during the 2018-2019 school year. The salary increase will be effective with the fourth pay in the 2018-2019 school year. The total increase of this one-year contract extension is approximately $1,220,816, which falls within the Act 1 limitations for the school district.

• There will be no step movement for the 20182019 school year.

• Salary schedule movement for Boyertown Area Education Association members who have achieved and been approved for educational attainment would become effective with the first pay of the 2018-2019 school year.

• Long-term substitutes are added and covered under a separate section of the agreement.

• There will be no change in benefits.