Allegheny Valley School District agrees to 5-year contract with its teachers

Teachers and the school board in the Allegheny Valley School District have forged a new five-year contract.

On Tuesday, the board unanimously ratified the agreement after the Allegheny Valley Education Association had done so earlier in the day.

Under the new contract, the 78-member teaching staff will receive an average salary increase of 3.28% over the entire five-year term.

“Without the unyielding cooperation of the district and the AVEA, this would not have been possible,” said Superintendent Patrick Graczyk after the board approved the agreement.

Jennifer Novich, president of the Allegheny Valley Education Association, said increasing the salary was one of the association’s top goals in order to make the district more attractive to potential job candidates.

“We are happy that the new agreement takes into account the needs of the district, the taxpayers, and the teachers of Allegheny Valley,” she said. “Both sides worked hard to reach a fair agreement, and we are grateful.”

According to figures provided by the district, under the old contract, which expires June 30, a teacher with a bachelor’s degree earns a starting salary of $39,136. By the end of the new contract, that teacher will earn $45,336 — a $6,200 increase overall.

A veteran teacher at the top of the scale who holds a bachelor’s degree now earns $90,574. His or her salary will reach $97,074 when the contract ends. That amounts to a $6,500 increase, or just under four times as much as the starting teacher’s salary increase.

Teachers holding a master’s degree at the starting level now earn $40,036, and that figure will rise to $46,236 at the end of the new agreement.

At the top of the master’s degree scale, teachers currently earn $91,474. That salary will climb to $97,974 when the new contract expires June 30, 2027.

On the issue of health care, the teachers who now pay 10% of their health care premiums will pay an additional one-half percent in the new contract’s initial year.

In the subsequent years, their health care premium share will rise to 11.25% in the second year, 12% in the third year, 12.5% in the fourth year and 13% in the last year of the agreement.