PT, teachers reach six-year deal
Peters Township School District and its 285 teachers, who have been working without a contract since the start of the school year, agreed to a new six-year deal Monday retroactive to Aug. 31.
“It’s been a long journey,” said Kris Bergman, president of Peters Township Federation of Teachers Local 3421, who received an ovation from the 25 people – all mostly teachers – who attended Monday’s school board meeting.
“I am very relieved,” he said.
The agreement between the two sides comes after several meetings that took place at the request of the arbitration panel, composed of Paul Homer, a union staff representative, Gretchen Love, district solicitor, and Timothy Tietze, a Chester County attorney who served as a neutral arbitrator.
Highlights of the deal include $1,200 annual salary increases for teachers on steps two through 16, and $1,000 for teachers on step 17, the highest salary tier, in the remaining four years of the contract. For example, a teacher with a bachelor’s degree on step one who now makes $45,900, will make $49,900 by the sixth year of the contract.
The jump for teachers on the highest salary tier will be split into two parts. The first increase will take place at the beginning of the school year, while the remaining 50 percent will take place in the second half, a move which will reduce the impact on the district budget.
Contributions to existing health plans would increase 78 percent for individuals and 65 percent for families over the life of the contract, according to information released by the district. Two additional lower cost plans also will be offered, a financial benefit to both the district and employees, the district said.
Lastly during the final year of the contract, the average workday for teachers will be increased to 7 hours, 45 minutes.
The average teacher’s salary in Peters is in excess of $70,000 a year, the district said.
“Both sides worked very hard to come to this agreement,” said Superintendent Jeannine French. “We know that this process has not been easy on anyone involved, and I am grateful that we are now moving forward together.”
District teachers went on strike in late October and stayed off the job for nearly a month. That, in turn, pushed the last day of school forward to June 23 for the district’s 4,000-plus students. Seniors are still scheduled to graduate June 10.
“Our goal from the start was to settle the contract in a way that was responsible to the community and fair to our teachers,” said school Director Jamison Hardy, who was on the negotiating team.