Oxford teachers are finally getting to take a step up in pay after being frozen the last couple years, according to the OEA (Oxford Education Association) contract, which was unanimously approved by the school board at the Nov. 19 meeting.
‘We’ve been frozen for two years, so the younger teachers weren’t seeing pay increases,? said OEA President Jim Gibbons. ‘It’s tough when you’re paying student loans and you’re trying start families and the state requires we go back and continue our education and things like that, which cost money. Then we have teachers who have been stopped for two or three years making less than $40,000 a year.?
The contract will go into effect starting Jan. 1 and run through June 30, 2016. Starting in January, all teachers not hired during the current fiscal year will take one step, which means a pay increase for all, except for those teachers who are in ‘longevity steps.?
‘If you’re in between longevity steps, like me. I’m on step 15. I’ll go step 16, but it’s the same salary as step 15,? Gibbons explained.
However, those teachers that are in the longevity steps will maintain the 1 percent off-schedule increase that they received back in September.
‘So, we’re basically held harmless on that,? Gibbons added.
Oxford Schools Chief Financial Officer Pam Anstey said the total cost for the OEA steps that take effect in January will be $281,906 for salaries and benefits.
Then when the schedule rolls again in September, teachers not hired during the 2015-16 fiscal year will again receive another full step increase. Those in longevity steps, whose salary is frozen, will once again maintain the 1 percent off-schedule increase that started in fiscal year 2014-15 through fiscal year 2015-16, so their salary doesn’t go down.
The steps that go into effect for the 2015-16 fiscal year will translate into an additional $835,825 for salaries and benefits.
‘The reason for the big differential (in cost) is that the steps in fiscal year 2014-15 are not retroactive and are for a partial year,? Anstey said.
Healthcare
The contingency for getting the step increase in September was an agreement to bid out health insurance. Gibbons said the maximum amount the district pays in healthcare dictated by the state is supposed to adjust up based on the Consumer Price Index.
‘It has been . . . going up about 3 percent (over the last several years), so it was supposed to go up 3 percent (in January), which would reduce what the teachers were contributing towards their premiums for healthcare. What we agreed to do was to hold the cap where it’s at prior to January,? he said. ‘So, the district isn’t going to incur any new cost for healthcare starting in January.?
Anstey said the state insurance cap will be held at the January 2014 levels, which are $5,857 for single individuals, $12,250 for two-person families and $15,975 for family.
By doing healthcare reform Gibbons said they are looking to save a minimum of By doing healthcare reform Gibbons said they are looking to save a minimum of $450,000 district-wide, which is equivalent to 10 percent of what the district currently pays in healthcare. The district’s current healthcare budget is $4,551,524.
According to Assistant Supt. of Human Resources Nancy Latowski, she and Anstey have already started meeting with insurance representatives and talking about different ways to look at healthcare.
The new insurance will go into effect September 2015.
New teacher schedule
Also starting in January will be a new salary schedule for all new teacher hires in the district. ‘It’s slightly different because it changes the way that teachers get to the top salary by making it more affordable to the district, hopefully ensuring the steps will roll each year,? Gibbons said.
In essence, the new salary schedule will reduce the percentage in salary increase from one step to the next from the current four to 6 percent to between 3 and 4 percent, which would also eliminate salary freezes during the longevity steps.
‘What we’re trying to do is make the cost of rolling the steps in the long-term more affordable so we can give teachers raises, so you’re not stuck making $36,000 for four years as a first-year teacher,? Gibbons said. ‘We’re trying to look at the long-term health of the district.?
Part of the reason that it took them so long to negotiate the contract was because they were investigating other methods of paying the current teachers.
‘We looked at changing the whole salary schedule completely for everybody, but our number one goal was to take care of your younger teachers,? Gibbons noted. ‘What we found is the current salary schedule we have is the most effective way to take care of the younger teachers and still hold other people harmless and not have to have pay cuts for teachers.?
Latowski said she’s happy with how the contract came out. ‘Steps for teachers when they start in and hire in at a lower salary that allows them to continue with the district and allows us to insure that we’re keeping our good teachers,? she said. ‘The fact that we’re out there looking at healthcare options as well is (the district and the teachers) working together to keep our staff.?
Gibbons said the contract was ratified by 93 percent of the teachers and overall, he believes it’s a ‘fair contract.? He said, he’s very happy with the salary agreement, but admitted that he is nervous on the healthcare side.
‘We’re all worried about what does that healthcare benefit look like. There is some risk. We’re taking risk because of the healthcare and the district is taking risk because they committed a lot of new dollars to our contract,? he said. ‘I guess if there is risk on both sides, it’s a fair contract and if there is happiness on both sides, it’s a fair contract.?