The Portage Township Schools board approved a one-year contract Tuesday that will give the district’s 410 teachers a raise and more flexible paid time off days, instead of sick and personal days.
“I’m really pleased with the level of collaboration the administration and the association had in getting to this contract, Portage Association of Teachers President Deb Porter said, describing negotiations as “very diligent, honest and collaborative.”
The new contract will give teachers 13 paid time off days that can be banked, or carried over, to following years, and teachers who do not use their PTO days will get a $1,000 incentive at end of the school year, Porter said.
At the end of the year, teachers who do not use all of their PTO will get $75 for each unused PTO day, she said, describing the change as “positive reinforcement” for teachers to not use their days.
Previously, teachers were given three personal days and 10 sick days.
“(PTO) gives teachers some flexibility at life,” Porter said. “Sometimes, you need more than three personal days a year, and now, we don’t have to lie about our days. It’s just a more professional way to deal with absences from work.”
Porter said the union has been trying to get PTO days for years, but adding the attendance bonus at the end of the year made it more attractive for all parties.
The agreement also calls for teachers getting a 3 percent raise once the Indiana Department of Education certifies the district’s ISTEP test scores and awards the district its “school grade” for the year, Porter said.
Board President Andy Maletta said the agreement is “a good contract” offering “a good raise,” and it signals collaboration between teachers and the administration.
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“I think it’s wonderful,” he said of the contract. “With these things, you never know how they’re going to go. I’m not saying in the past it’s always been smooth, but, this year, I think both parties were determined to get out ahead of it early and to do something that was fair for both sides.”
Matt Malaski, a member of the teachers union negotiating team, said the union and administration opened “unofficial bargaining” early in the summer, before they were required to begin negotiations.
“When the (official negotiation) dates came, we had already made progress to be able to sit down at the table and work quickly through issues we brought up.”
In past negotiations, “we were not always able to do that,” Malaski said.
The contract will last through next summer, when the administration and the union will begin negotiations for what likely will be a two-year contract, to match the two-year state budget, officials said.
Michael Gonzalez is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.