2.15% Annual Raises Approved for Bernards Education Association

The Bernards Board of Education on Monday approved a three-year contract awarding annual raises of 2.15 percent to the Bernards Education Association, including teachers and support staff, for a three-year period that dates back to July 1.

Factoring in that teachers will begin picking up a greater percentage of their health benefits in years two and three of the contract, along with continuing contributions to dental insurance as previously bargained, the cost of the next contract to the district will "stay within the [state's] 2 percent budget cap" on increases, said Board President Susan McGowan.

McGowan added that another key component of the contract is that teachers have agreed to each spend another six hours working on professional development during each year of the contract.

She said that inclusion in the contract is especially important since the state has required new standardized testing procedures for students, and new evaluation processes for teachers, in the next year or two. 

Schools Superintendent Nick Markarian on Tuesday said the number of BTEA employees covered during negotiations was 735 for the contract that was tentatively settled back in June.

The contract, covering the period from July 1, 2013 to June 30, 2016, could not be ratified until teachers returned from summer break and voted in favor on Sept. 25, McGowan said.

The BTEA contract also covered media center librarians and other support staff.

Board Member Michael Byrnes abstained from voting, since he said he believed the terms of the contract should have been revealed to the public before, not after the school board vote. The remainder of the board members voted unanimously to approve the pact.

The starting salary for a teacher with a bachelor's degree during the three years of the contract agreement would be  $47,580, $47,706 and $47,724, Markarian said on Tuesday. The top of the salary guide for teachers with a bachelor's degree would be $82,785, $82,911 and $82,929 during the duration of the contract, he said.

Other clauses in the contract allow prescription coverage to be shopped competitively apart from major medical coverage; and for $20,000 to be allocated the first year for additional stipends for staff members spending additional time on student activities. Any stipends paid will be at the current amount for years one and two of the contract, with a 2-percent increase the third year, according to information given out at Monday's meeting.

McGowan said that the new contract is unchanged in the year's return date for staff at the start of a new school year; as in previous years, staff will not return to begin school before Labor Day, she said.

McGowan and Markarian said they could not say exactly how much employees would begin paying toward their health insurance costs in the second and third years of the contract.