By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
MONTGOMERY – Montgomery Township school district teachers, custodians and support staff will receive salary increases averaging 2.56 percent, under a three-year contract negotiated between the Montgomery Township Education Association and the Montgomery Township Board of Education.
The school board approved the three-year contract — which calls for salary increases of 3 percent in the first year, 2.38 percent in the second year and 2.31 percent in the final year — at a special meeting Tuesday afternoon. The contract starts July 1, 2015 and ends June 30, 2018.
The approximately 500-member MTEA includes certificated teachers, support staff, educational support assistants and paraprofessionals, registered nurses, custodians and maintenance personnel. It does not include administrators.
School district officials said the 3-percent salary increase in the first year of the contract was made possible due to the reduced healthcare premiums realized by MTEA members moving into the School Employees’ Health Benefits Plan. The savings has been estimated at around $500,000.
The MTEA has agreed to abide by the full implementation of Chapter 78, which resulted in “significant savings,” said school board president Adele Kirk-Csontos. It is fair to MTEA members and to the taxpayers, she said.
Chapter 78, which is a health benefits reform law that was signed in 2011, requires employees to contribute toward their health care insurance premiums. It was phased in over four years, and June 30, 2015 marks the fourth year of the phase-in process.
Under the terms of the new contract, a newly minted teacher with a bachelor’s degree will earn $57,440 in the first year of the contract, $58,885 in the second year and $59,440 in the final year of the contract.
A teacher with 24 years of experience, a master’s degree and 60 additional credits will earn $98,320 in the first year of the contract, $98,820 in the second year and $99,320 in the final year — the top of the salary scale. Teachers with less education and fewer years of service will earn less money.
The salary range for a clerk who works 10 months of the year ranges from $29,122 to $37,892. The top of the scale is reached after 13 years of service. In the second year of the contract, the salary range is $29,717 to $38,487, and $30,250 to $39,019 in the final year.
Educational support staff will earn between $20,395 and $24,045 in year one, and $21,112 to $24,406 in the second year of the contract and $21,296 to $24,590 in the last year. It takes 15 to 16 years to reach the top of the scale.
Employees also have to contribute toward their health insurance premiums. The percentage of the contribution depends on the type of plan chosen and the salary range. An employee who earns more than $100,000 and has single coverage — not a family plan — would pay 35 percent of the premium. If the premium is $10,000, that employee would pay $3,500 toward it.
