Ramsey Board of Ed Approves Three-Year Teacher Contract

After a heated back-and-forth between Ramsey Board of Education members Tuesday night, the board passed a new teacher contract that proponents say will help usher in a period of stability in the Ramsey school district.

The new contract, which was ratified by the Ramsey Education Association this week, is a three-year deal that interim Superintendent Bruce DeYoung called the “lowest agreement in recent times.”

According to DeYoung, most of the issues that caused a years-long teacher contract debate over the past several years were ironed out when the REA and board reached a one-year agreement last August. The current round of negotiation talks he moderated, which began in February, settled mainly on contract duration, and pay scale.

The new contract, DeYoung said, offers teachers an average raise of 2.88% each year for the next three years. DeYoung said the contract offers the biggest raises to junior employees, and the smallest to those at the top of the pay scale.

The contract, he said, “shows an agreement [from both sides] that peace is needed in the district moving forward.”

Several board members expressed their feelings that with a new Superintendent starting in July, they wished to have a stable environment moving forward, prompting their support of the deal.

All but one board member, Richard Muti, voted in favor of the contract.

Muti said he felt the raises given, which could be as high as 10% for some teachers and as low as 0.9% for others, were too high, compared with raises being awarded with other contracts in districts across the county.

Muti said he felt the contract was passed “without regard to the economic challenges we are facing in this community.”

Conversely, DeYoung said the average raises are up less than the cost of living is expected to go up over the next three years, which, “is an acknowledgement of the times,” he said.

The two and Board President Tony Gasparovich exchanged some heated words before the contract was passed about an email Muti sent to a contingent of subscribers on an email list he operates. Muti sent out an email last week saying the board was poised to make a big mistake by passing the newly-negotiated agreement.

Muti also argued that the agreement would be unsustainable if state aid is cut over the next few years.

DeYoung and Gasparovich disagreed, saying the contract can be fully funded under the current and future budgets, and took issue with Muti’s email, saying he used it as a way to “rile up” residents using “misinformation.”

Muti said he “resented” their comments, and felt that the current contract was just the latest in a series that awarded teachers too-high raises.

Despite the debate, the agreement passed with an 8-1 vote.

Several Ramsey teachers spoke at the meeting, thanking DeYoung for his work helping settle teacher contract disputes over the past year. 

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