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player ready...Teachers in Pleasantdale Elementary School District 107 have a new contract that will carry them through to the 2019-20 school year.
The contract calls for the teachers to get annual salary increases of between 3 and 4 percent over the life of the deal.
The annual hike in teachers’ salaries, according to terms of the contract, are 4 percent for this school year, 3.75 percent for 2016-17 to 2018-19, and 3 percent for 2019-20.
It is the fourth consecutive time that the district and teachers have reached a five-year contract deal.
“The overall process was comprehensive, supported by all involved and all voices were heard throughout the duration of negotiations,” said Mark Mirabile, president of the Pleasantdale School Board. “The approval of a fair and equitable contract that will help guide us into the next five years was achieved, and we wish to thank all parties involved.”
Mirabile specifically praised Superintendent Dave Palzet, board member David Negron and the Teachers Association of Pleasantdale’s negotiation team for their work.
The association, which represents about 125 district employees, ratified the agreement in December, with 92 percent of its voting members approving the deal. It is the bargaining unit for the district’s teachers, social workers, educational support personnel and special education staff.
The School Board approved the agreement at its Feb. 17 meeting. Eleven negotiating sessions were held before an agreement was reached on the contract, which is retroactive to Sept. 1.
“We are very relieved to have this agreement,” Palzet said. “The negotiations were amicable. They really were. Both sides really wanted to see a five-year deal. There was some bantering around of three years, but we were able to come to an agreement on five years.”
Palzet said that the annual increases are lower than teachers have gotten in past years.
“We feel like, based on comparables, that we are right in line with other districts in the area,” the superintendent said. “The contract is also in line with increases in the past. In fact, we stayed below what increases were in the past. Increases in the past were more like 4.4 percent.”
The teachers will see a slight percentage increase in their health insurance premiums in the new contract.
Palzet said the contract keeps with the district’s history of being good stewards of residents’ tax dollars.
“We have always been fiscally responsible,” Palzet said. “This contract is fair to the teachers and the district’s residents.”
The Pleasantdale superintendent was pleased that although teachers started this school year without a contract in place, there were never any discussions of putting students’ education in jeopardy.
“We never got to the point where we had to bring in a mediator,” Palzet said. “We went in and felt there were two options: this could tear us apart or this could bring us closer together. We did not agree on every single thing, but teachers never talked about a strike and no one walked out of the room in a huff. It was always amicable.”
The union’s chief negotiator, Joanne Histed, and association President Julie Crist agreed.
“We want to thank the board negotiating team, as well as the full board for their hard work and collaborative approach during these negotiations,” Histed and Crist said in a statement. “With the contract in place and our new superintendent, Dave Palzet, we go forward together to provide the best learning and working environment for the students and families, as well as the employees, of Pleasantdale.”
Kevin Beese is a freelance writer for Pioneer Press.
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