2 | Friday, November 11, 2011
Town Council approves new contract for teachers By ERICA SCHMITT STAFF WRITER
Newington’s Town Council accepted the Board of Education’s recommendation to ratify teacher contracts last week, which officials say will save the town money in these difficult times. “We felt that it was the best contract they could give to move forward,” said former Mayor Mike Lenares of the school board’s recommendation. At its Oct. 27 meeting, the board entered into an informal agreement with the Teacher’s Association to ratify the new contract, which also includes insurance and working conditions settlements. Then last week, the council accepted the contract, which will go into affect for the upcoming school year. In the first year, teachers agreed to a “hard” zero percent increase in salary. The second in year, they get a zero percent increase in “steps” and a 2.25 percent increase in wages while the third year they get a step increase but no increase in wages. If they’re at Step 16 or above, they get a 1.36 percent wage increase. In a teacher contract, “steps” are payment increases determined by years of experience. When they are originally hired, teachers usually begin at step 4 in the 16-step schedule. Along with salary, the teachers
“This is a very fair settlement for both sides. When you sit down and negotiate with teachers, you’re actually negotiating what other districts have settled at. I think our teachers realize they have been getting raises that most other communities weren’t getting at this time, so they knew this was their time to not get an increase to help out the community.” STEPHEN WOODS Newly-elected Newington mayor and former chairman of the Board of Education
agreed to two insurance plan options, requiring them to pay between 10 to 17 percent of their insurance premiums each year, depending on which option they are enrolled in. The contract also adds 15 minutes to the town’s school day in year two, which will be 2013. Stephen Woods, the newly-elected mayor and former chairman of the school board, was satisfied with the outcome. “This is a very fair settlement for both sides,” he said. “When you sit down and negotiate with teachers, you’re actually negotiating what other districts have settled at. I think our teachers realize they
have been getting raises that most other communities weren’t getting at this time, so they knew this was their time to not get an increase to help out the community.” Council member Maureen Klett was also confident in the contract, which she thinks will help Newington in the long run. “Overall, when you look at the whole three-year settlement it’s a plus for the town,” she said. However, she hopes the town will be in a better fiscal position two years from now when it has to re-examine the issue. “This will help us deliver a budget that doesn’t increase taxes much,” Klett said.
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