New Kensington-Arnold approves new contract with teachers union

A new five-year contract between the New Kensington-Arnold School District and its teachers union is formally in place following the school board’s approval Tuesday.

The board voted 8-0 in favor of the agreement, which increases teachers’ pay while also having them pay more toward health care. Board member Eric Doutt was absent.

The board did not discuss the contract before voting, but board President Tim Beckes expressed relief after the vote, which capped off 14 months of negotiations.

“It’s nice to have that motion done,” he said.

The union, the New Kensington-Arnold Education Association, approved the contract on April 13, just days after a tentative agreement was announced on Saturday, April 9. The agreement, reached the night before, averted a strike the union notified the district it had intended to start on that Monday.

“Our members finally have the stability of a long-term contract in place,” association President Ashley Pujol said in a statement. “Although our union has had to make some difficult decisions regarding the adoption of this new contract, our resolve and unity have enabled this successful outcome.”

The last contract expired Aug. 31. The new agreement is retroactive to Sept. 1 and runs through Aug. 31, 2026.

The association represents 151 teachers and professional staff including nurses and school counselors.

Teachers will get their pay increase for the 2021-22 school year in a lump sum payment on May 15, said Terry Schrock, school board vice president, lead negotiator and spokesman.

The district will also deduct the additional health insurance contributions for the current school year in one lump-sum deduction from the same pay, he said.

How much teachers should pay for health care had been the one unresolved issue that took the sides to the brink of a strike.

The pay rates

The contract has two pay schedules, one for teachers with bachelor’s degrees and another, higher one for those with master’s degrees.

Under the contract, the starting salary for a teacher with a bachelor’s degree will increase by 2.2%, from $46,773 in the last year of the previous contract to $47,795 in the first year of the new agreement. By the fifth year, the starting salary will increase by a total of about 9% from the first year to $52,153.

The salary at the top of the pay scale for teachers with a bachelor’s degree will increase by about 1.2% in the first year, from $77,147 to $78,056, and then by a total of 5% from the first year to $81,930 in the fifth year.

For teachers with master’s degrees, the starting salary increases by about 2.3% in the first year, from $49,773 to $50,931, and then by a total of almost 10% from the first year to $55,867 in the fifth year.

The increase at the top of the scale is about 1.2% in the first year, from $80,647 to $81,597, and then by a total of 5% from the first year to $85,647 in the fifth year.

For health care, the contribution for individual coverage will increase from $50 or $65 per month, depending on a teacher’s pay step, to just over $68 in the first year of the new contract, representing 11% of the current premium.

The contribution for family coverage increases from $80 or $125 per month, to $125 per month or about $189, also 11% of the premium.

Contributions increase again in the second year, to 12% of the premium.

In the third through fifth years of the agreement, teachers will pay 12% of the monthly premium, with the monthly increase not exceeding $20 each year for individual and family coverage.