The Riverhead Board of Education voted unanimously Tuesday to approve a new five-year contract with the Riverhead Central Faculty Association that provides teachers with .75 percent salary increases in years two through five of the contract and increases teacher contributions to health insurance premiums beginning in year two.
Superintendent Nancy Carney thanked the union for its efforts during the prolonged negotiations.
“We feel that we have a fair contract in place that is definitely taking into consideration the taxpayers and is something that is fair to our RCFA as well, and we’re truly looking forward to moving forward in the spirit of collaboration,” Carney said.
The contract covers the period between July 1, 2012 and June 30, 2017. There is no salary increase for the 2012-2013 school year and a .75 percent increase this year and for each of the next three years. The new contract raises teacher health insurance contributions by 1.25 percent each year beginning in the current school year. By the contract’s end, most teachers will be paying 20 percent of their health insurance costs, which represents a five percent decrease for the district from the last contract. The last RCFA contract covered 2005 to 2010 and was extended through June 30, 2012.
The district also said that a reconfiguration of payments to a supplemental benefits plan is expected to save nearly $200,000 over the course of the new contract.
Union president Lisa Goulding thanked negotiators from both sides of the table for “engaging in thoughtful and professional dialogue throughout the negotiation process.”
Goulding called the contract sustainable and said it would foster trust and respect between the district and its teachers, whose numbers have been reduced to roughly 380 by layoffs, retirement and attrition over the past few years.
“They were amiable,” she said of discussions over the past five months or so – a shift since former RCFA president Barbara Barosa predicted a difficult and unproductive dialogue at the start of negotiations in early 2012.
Goulding said the union was mindful of the property tax levy cap and its effect on the district’s budget.
Board president Ann Cotten-DeGrasse called the agreement a “net positive” for the budget and taxpayers.
“It provides modest increases for teachers but at the same time requires greater contributions to health insurance costs, which is currently our single largest expense,” she said.
Photo caption: Riverhead School Superintendent Nancy Carney, second from left, speaking during the Board of Education meeting last night in the high school cafeteria. Also pictured, from left, board vice president Greg Meyer, president Ann Cotten-DeGrasse and member Tom Carson.
RiverheadLOCAL photo by Micah Danney
Contact Micah Danney: micah@riverheadlocal.com
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