Union, district OK pact after 15 months
Teachers' pay to increase
Published in the Asbury Park Press 05/6/05
By JUSTIN VELLUCCI
KEYPORT BUREAU
ABERDEEN - Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District teachers will receive at least 4 percent in annual salary increases through June 2007 under a contract adopted after nearly 15 months of negotiations.
The new contract, which affects about 350 teachers and 20 bus drivers, will increase salaries 4 percent in 2004-05, 4.3 percent in 2005-06, and 4.6 percent in 2006-07, Business Administrator and Board Secretary Laura Venter said.
About 30 custodians represented by the Matawan Regional Teachers Association will see increases of $1,500 in 2004-05, $1,600 in 2005-06, and $1,700 in 2006-07, Venter said.
School and union representatives alike said Thursday they were pleased with the new agreement, which comes at the end of a year in which faculty members worked without a contract. The last agreement expired in June 2004.
"In the end, I think most people would have to agree it was a fair settlement," union president Carl Kosmyna said. "Hopefully, we'll have a year or two of labor peace before we have to go back to the table again."
The new contract will change union members' insurance carrier as of July 1 from Horizon Blue Cross/Blue Shield to Oxford Health Plans, a move Venter said will save the district about $600,000 a year.
The agreement phases out a "terminal leave" payment, which gave teachers with at least 10 years of district service an extra month of their salary when they retire, Venter said. The payment will drop to a half-month's salary as of July 1 and be eliminated on June 30, 2007.
The agreement does not increase extracurricular activities stipends in 2004-05 but does increase them 2 percent in both the 2005-06 and 2006-07 school years, Venter said. The agreement also increases union members' tuition reimbursement from $1,000 to $1,250 a year.
Denise Shell, an Aberdeen resident who taught briefly at Matawan Avenue Middle School, said salary increases in the new agreement seemed similar to figures in Middletown and were appropriate given the demands of a teacher's job.
"Teachers need to be compensated just like everybody else," said Shell, 54, who's also taught in Keansburg and elsewhere. "If anybody thinks it's an easy job that's done at 3, they're very, very sadly mistaken.
"I don't know that I've ever taught with a nicer, better staff than I did at Matawan Avenue (Middle School) when I was there," she added. "They deserve something."
Matawan resident Tammy Proto has two sons at the middle school and agrees the staff is great. She's just concerned about the growing size of salaries compared to the number of hours spent teaching in the classroom.
In 2003-04 - the last year under the previous contract - teachers on the salary scale's first step earned $37,350, Venter said. By 2006-07, that figure will reach $41,450.
"They're excellent at what they do . . . but I think their salaries are a little bit over the top," said Proto, 42, who feels teachers also should contribute toward their health benefits.
"We all pay into our health benefits - I happen to be a registered nurse who works for a hospital, and I pay into my benefits," Proto said.
Justin Vellucci: (732) 888-2617 or jvellucci@app.com
Teachers' pay to increase
Published in the Asbury Park Press 05/6/05
By JUSTIN VELLUCCI
KEYPORT BUREAU
ABERDEEN - Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District teachers will receive at least 4 percent in annual salary increases through June 2007 under a contract adopted after nearly 15 months of negotiations.
The new contract, which affects about 350 teachers and 20 bus drivers, will increase salaries 4 percent in 2004-05, 4.3 percent in 2005-06, and 4.6 percent in 2006-07, Business Administrator and Board Secretary Laura Venter said.
About 30 custodians represented by the Matawan Regional Teachers Association will see increases of $1,500 in 2004-05, $1,600 in 2005-06, and $1,700 in 2006-07, Venter said.
School and union representatives alike said Thursday they were pleased with the new agreement, which comes at the end of a year in which faculty members worked without a contract. The last agreement expired in June 2004.
"In the end, I think most people would have to agree it was a fair settlement," union president Carl Kosmyna said. "Hopefully, we'll have a year or two of labor peace before we have to go back to the table again."
The new contract will change union members' insurance carrier as of July 1 from Horizon Blue Cross/Blue Shield to Oxford Health Plans, a move Venter said will save the district about $600,000 a year.
The agreement phases out a "terminal leave" payment, which gave teachers with at least 10 years of district service an extra month of their salary when they retire, Venter said. The payment will drop to a half-month's salary as of July 1 and be eliminated on June 30, 2007.
The agreement does not increase extracurricular activities stipends in 2004-05 but does increase them 2 percent in both the 2005-06 and 2006-07 school years, Venter said. The agreement also increases union members' tuition reimbursement from $1,000 to $1,250 a year.
Denise Shell, an Aberdeen resident who taught briefly at Matawan Avenue Middle School, said salary increases in the new agreement seemed similar to figures in Middletown and were appropriate given the demands of a teacher's job.
"Teachers need to be compensated just like everybody else," said Shell, 54, who's also taught in Keansburg and elsewhere. "If anybody thinks it's an easy job that's done at 3, they're very, very sadly mistaken.
"I don't know that I've ever taught with a nicer, better staff than I did at Matawan Avenue (Middle School) when I was there," she added. "They deserve something."
Matawan resident Tammy Proto has two sons at the middle school and agrees the staff is great. She's just concerned about the growing size of salaries compared to the number of hours spent teaching in the classroom.
In 2003-04 - the last year under the previous contract - teachers on the salary scale's first step earned $37,350, Venter said. By 2006-07, that figure will reach $41,450.
"They're excellent at what they do . . . but I think their salaries are a little bit over the top," said Proto, 42, who feels teachers also should contribute toward their health benefits.
"We all pay into our health benefits - I happen to be a registered nurse who works for a hospital, and I pay into my benefits," Proto said.
Justin Vellucci: (732) 888-2617 or jvellucci@app.com
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