It's a Wrap: Clarkstown School Board OKs New Teacher's Contract

The light atmosphere in the Clarkstown school board's meeting room in New City Monday evening was a stark contrast to some of the tense moments the same room has seen over the past year. But at this session, there was no conflict, with the school board unanimously approving a new contract with the district's teachers, who have agreed to a five-year deal that freezes salaries for the next 18 months.

Schools Superintendent Margaret Keller-Cogan said Monday's vote by the school board concluded an "extraordinarily respectful process" that involved a lot of give and take on both sides to come up with a contract that recognizes the difficulties of the economy and the needs of the teachers.

"I thought the process showed that altruism was alive and well," said Keller-Cogan. "Everyone worked together in a collaborative spirit."

In addition to freezing salaries for 18 months, the teachers have agreed to also freeze pay raises that come automatically through longevity. School officials say the new contract will help the district in the coming year, when they are expecting another tough process coming up with a school budget that meets the district's educational needs and does not overburden taxpayers..

The deal, which runs from Sept. 1 until Aug. 31, 2015, easily was approved by the teachers' union last Thursday by a vote of 504-176. The long-term financial health of the district was something the union tried to bear in mind during the negotiations, according to its president, Gregg Montague.

After the initial freeze, salaries are scheduled to increase between 2 and 3 percent annually – based on a previous three-year average of the consumer price index with those percentages being the minimum and maximum levels -- for the remainder of the deal. That puts the average pay increase for the five years at between 1.4 and 2.1 percent. The average annual pay increase for the expiring contract was about 6 percent.

Linking future pay raises to economic data was an unusual, yet critical, component of the deal, Keller-Cogan said because it takes into account changes in the economy and how that impacts people's finances and ability to pay taxes to support the district.

The contract also addresses several benefit issues, one of which would reduce employee health care contributions in the last year of the deal to 33 percent for all employees with more than three years of service or who have tenure. New teachers will continue to contribute 35 percent, the current percentage, toward their health care premiums until they have reached either of those thresholds.

Another benefit the teachers gained in the deal is the creation of cooperative child care centers for children of employees in schools where empty classroom space exists. Keller-Cogan said the child care center effort came from discussions about the teaching staff, in which 80 percent of the 830 teachers have fewer than 10 years with the district.

She said child care emerged as a key issue and the child care centers will help meet the needs of young teachers who have difficulty obtaining affordable child care. Keller-Cogan explained that schools throughout the district will have child care centers, with the district providing the space for the centers at no charge.

The contract also creates a "job sharing" program that will benefit young teachers with families and older teachers who are approaching retirement but aren't ready to leave the educational system yet, Keller-Cogan said.

"We heard from a number of teachers that they would like to have the option of working part-time if they could instead or retiring right away," Keller-Cogan said, noting that job sharing would not negatively affect retirement benefits for a teacher approaching the end of a career.

The teachers' union contract was one of eight of the district's 10 union contracts set to expire before the start of the new school year. All of the expiring contracts were for five years, meaning they were negotiated in far better economic times and in the middle of a housing boom that helped generate more local taxes due to higher assessments. Those assessments have since lessened, as has outside school aid.

In Monday's vote, the seven-member school board quickly gave its unanimous support for the new contract.

"It was a fair deal for both sides," said Phillip DeGaetano, the Clarkstown school board's president. "And that's all the board and the teachers wanted."

Each of the school board members thanked the district administration and the teachers for working together to come up with the contract.

For outgoing school board member Lisa Lieberman, who did not seek re-election this year, voting to approve the new contract Monday was the final major action of her nine years on the board.

"The superintendent showed leadership through adversity," Lieberman said. "And this contract recognizes the value of teachers in our schools."

School board member Doug Katz described the contract as something both sides are happy with. Additionally, Katz said he was pleased that the contract was reached  before the end of the school year.

"They gave up, and they are getting," said school board member Diane Hoeneveld of the teachers.

Board members Joseph Malgieri and Kevin Grogan also thanked the negotiating teams for their work. And, board member Donna Ehrenberg said she is glad the district will be able to start the 2010-2011 school year on positive footing.

In addition to the contract, the school district won overwhelming support from the voters in May for the 2010-2011 school budget. This follows last year's difficulties, in which a plan to fix up district schools was rejected by voters and the district's first proposed budget was also rejected.