MRTA, board settle for 4.11% average pay hike
$10 co-pay increase will save district $300,000 per year, Klavon says
ABERDEEN — Under a new, three-year contract agreed upon last week, teachers and support staff in the Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District will receive higher pay and more benefits.
"Obviously I’m ecstatic that both sides were able to work things out by the start of the school year," said district Superintendent of Schools Michael Klavon.
"This allows us to have an orderly start and set the right tone for the students without a contract hanging over our heads," the superintendent added.
The new Matawan Regional Teachers Association contract, which covers the 2001-02, 2002-03, and 2003-04 school years, staggers pay increases over the three years. This year teachers will receive a 3.99-percent raise, while the following two years will see salaries go up 4.15 percent and 4.19 percent, respectively, for an average increase of 4.11 percent.
Bus drivers and custodial employees, who are also represented by the MRTA, will receive similar increases.
In the area of health benefits, both parties agreed to a increase in medical insurance co-pays for doctor visits.
MRTA members will now pay $20 per visit instead of $10, said Klavon, noting that the increase will save the district $300,000 per year.
Klavon also said that dental and optical insurance coverage will increase under the new contract.
A call to the MRTA offices for comment was not returned.
Teachers ratified the contract the morning of Sept. 4, the day before schools reopened, and the Board of Education signed off at a special meeting on Thursday.
According to Klavon, the tone of the negotiations was friendly, despite the presence of a state mediator who was called in early last month.
Klavon said that both the (MRTA) and the board agreed to minimize the role of the lawyers on both sides of the table, with the bulk of negotiations passing though board members and union officers.
The superintendent noted that legal counsel for both sides would formulate the proposals that were taken to the table, but that the administration and the lawyers provided mostly "technical assistance" during the negotiations process.