The Columbia Heights School Board and the district’s teachers have agreed to a new contract through the 2025 school year.
The teachers will receive a 2.5% increase this year and a 4% increase the second year.
Board Chair Lorien Mueller said at the meeting before the board approved the contract, “This is an unprecedented contract with unprecedented increases.”
Mueller said, though, that the contract still allowed the district to keep a 6.56% fund balance for the two years. However, the district will go into deficit spending the second year of the contract.
“I want to emphasize that this kind of contract is not sustainable,” Mueller said.
The increase for the first year will be retroactive to the start of the school year.
Kristen Stuenkel, the district’s director of communications, said the actual increases — because teachers are also moving up the pay scale in steps and lanes — are 5.28% the first year and 7.03% the second year. Steps are determined by how long a teacher has taught, and lanes are based on educational achievement.
For Step 17 teachers, at the top of longevity pay scale, the increase the second year will be 6%.
The average teacher salary the first year of the contract will be $75,539, and the average salary the second year will be $80,852.
There also will be bonuses for teachers achieving 20 and 25 years of experience.
The new contract will also include early education and Pre-K teachers, which is a change. Insurance benefits will have teachers paying a larger share of the cost, but, Stuenkel said, it’s still one of the best insurance packages compared to other districts.
The two sides met in daylong mediation on Feb. 9, and the teachers approved the pact the following week. The board gave final approval on Feb. 20.
Teacher spokesperson Kristen Sinicariello called the contract “a good foot in the door. But we still have some issues that need to be addressed.”
She said the teachers were happy with the pay and insurance agreements, but that other issues — such as class sizes — still need attention. She did not release the voting figures, but noted that the approval of the contract wasn’t as overwhelming as for past contracts.
The negotiations included a dozen meetings and over 230 days of work without a new contract. “It was a very long time, but we learned the power that teachers have if we pull together. We will continue to use that power to make our schools better.”
There were 29 changes in contract language. Sinicariello said the new contract language will stabilize counselor and other administrative positions. She said there was no new language on class sizes, except that a committee on class sizes will be formed and meet quarterly.