The school board unanimously approved a three-year contract with the West Windsor-Plainsboro Education Association, calling for salary increases each year of the contract for the 870 members of the district’s teaching staff.##M:[more]##
The contract, approved at the board’s June 24 meeting, calls for a salary increase of 4.9 percent for the 2008-’09 school year, with a 4.8 percent increase in 2009-’10 and a 4.7 increase in 2010-’11. According to information released from the school board, the salary increases will differ for employees based upon their levels of education and years of experience. The agreement also calls for an increase in the starting salary for a new teacher with a bachelor’s degree from $43,”600 to $49,”010 in the 2010-’11 school year.
The agreement also calls for a 3 percent increase in the first and third years of the contract in stipends for coaching, co-curricular assignments, and extra duty work like homebound instruction. All of the teachers in the union will also be transferred into the district’s new medical insurance plan, the New Jersey School Employees Health Benefits Program, and the premiums for the 145 teachers formerly enrolled in the traditional plan have been reduced by at least 33 percent.
Effective July, 2009, the prescription co-pays for teachers will increase to $15 for brand name, $7 for generic, and two times the applicable co-pay for mail order. Effective January, 2011, a dental insurance deductible of $30 an individual and $60 a family will be implemented.
Also under the agreement, beginning in July, 2009, newly hired teachers will attend two additional professional development days within the first year of service, for a total of five days.
Both the board negotiations team and WWPEA Vice President of Negotiations Wayne Wendel said they believed the agreement reached was fair. Wendel said he felt that sacrifices were made on both sides, but the greater good is that an agreement has been reached for the next three years.
Said board member Robert Johnson: “It’s always a bit of a struggle to come to an agreement, but we always know when we get there. They stayed very professional through everything. I think we made good progress on a number of items, and made good progress on the salary guides, and we got some costs contained.”
Superintendents’ Contracts The board also unanimously approved the contracts with Superintendent Victoria Kniewel and the district’s three assistant superintendents during the meeting. School officials said the contracts — which are separate from negotiations the board has with its five unions — do not yet contain salary increases. Any increase will be up for approval at a future meeting. — Cara Latham
