After months of deliberation, the State College Area School District and its teachers have agreed to a five-year new contract.
The contract has been debated back and forth since March by the district and the State College Area Education Association, which represents teachers in contract negotiations. Approved by the school board at its Monday night meeting, the contract is in effect until June 30, 2020.
“It was a collaborative process,” said board member Jim Leous of the negotiations. “We learned a lot about what it means to be a teacher, what it means to be a student in the district. I look forward to more of this dialogue.”
According to a school district news release, the new contract continues to base salary increases on years of teaching service in Pennsylvania and level of higher education. The agreement also calls for an average salary increase of 3.3 percent for teachers over the life of the contract.
The contract also includes some changes to the healthcare program, which is a major expense for the district. The new insurance program has higher deductibles with no co-insurance requirement, but also creates a new savings account for teachers to save for out-of-pocket expenses that the school district contributes to in order to offset costs to teachers.
“This process and the conversations that came from it resulted in both sides of the table having a better understanding of each article of the contract,” said education association chief negotiator Tod McPherson. “We developed deeper insight into the pressures affecting the school district and the board was able to develop a deeper appreciation for the issues affecting the teachers.”
The school board also heard some good news about the district’s finances in an update from Business Administrator Randy Brown.
Revenues came in at nearly $4 million more than expected, due in part to increased real estate tax revenue from new homes and businesses added to the district. At the same time, expenses were also nearly $4 million lower than expected.
Because of the unexpected surplus, Brown recommended transferring an additional $6.8 million to the district’s capital projects fund to prepare for expenses on the State High renovation project and other anticipated expenses.
The State High project also saw some movement on Monday, with the board approving a roughly $98,000 contract to build parking spaces at the high school north building to accommodate traffic during construction.
Director of Physical Plant Ed Poprik said the bids came in lower than expected, and that the approved contract also includes storm water management measures.
