The Port Washington Board of Education on Tuesday approved a new contract with the Port Washington Teachers Association, which union members previously ratified, that provides no salary increase for this school year.
“Throughout this process, both parties remained respectful of one another, mindful of the increasingly scarce fiscal resources available to our district and aware of the need to minimize the financial impact to taxpayers,” Karen Sloan, the Board of Education president, said.
The contract, which is effective from July 1, 2016, through June 30, 2020, includes a zero percent salary schedule increase for the 2016-17 school year— the third straight year the salary schedule has remained unchanged.
Under the contract, the salary schedule will increase one-half percent for the 2017-18 school year, one-quarter percent for 2018-19 and one-half percent for 2019-20.
The employee health contribution, one of the highest in Nassau County, will increase to 21 percent of the premium in 2018-19 and 22 percent of the premium in 2019-20, according to the contract.
“This agreement demonstrates our ability to acknowledge and appreciate our outstanding teachers within the reasonable limits of a conservative budget,” Sloan said.
The 183-day teacher work year, which was established in 2013, will become permanent, the contract said.
The amount of available annual paid leave for newly hired teachers will be reduced by five days during the teachers’ first four years of employment, and the length of time for which unpaid childcare leave is available will be reduced, too.
According to a news release, “There will be the addition of a $1,000 longevity payment after 29 years of service to the district and the creation of new steps where none previously existed at 19 years and 24 years, respectively.”
The contract also says that after a five-year freeze, the annual per-teacher contribution to the Benefit Trust will increase by $20 in 2018-19 and by an additional $20 in 2019-20.
