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(L-R) RTM Admin.Services Chair, Anthony Alfone, and (standing) Frank Twohill, Chair RTM Education Committee.
A three-year contract between Branford public school teachers and the Board of Education (BOE) gives teachers lower yearly salary increases than in past years, requires teachers to pay an increasing amount toward their health costs, and overall, makes significant changes in how the teacher salary system works.
The $22.4 million-a-year contract between the BOE and the Branford Education Association (BEA), the union for the teachers, runs from July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2021. The BEA represents 283 full-time teachers down from 310 teachers in 2014. This means in the first year the $22.4 million contract will increase by $526.000. In the second year the contract increases by an additional $629,000 and in the third year by an additional $656,000.
The contract was approved last month by the Representative Town Meeting (RTM) after the RTM Education Committee explored it and approved it unanimously. It had previously been approved by the Board of Education, which gave few details about the contract.
Typically the teachers’ contract, including the health insurance provision, is the trend-setter in the town because the teachers’ union is the largest bargaining unit in the town.
This contract, unlike previous ones, eliminates salary increases in years two and three of the contract except for step 14, the highest step. Frank Twohill, chair of the RTM education committee, said at the meeting that half of the teaching staff, 54 percent, are “already at top step 14 and they will only receive a 1.25 percent salary increase for the second and third years of the proposed contract.”
The contract, which was mediated, calls for increases each year of 2.38 percent, 2.71 percent, and 2.76 percent. Unlike prior contracts, this contract begins the process of making changes in the step progression for teachers as they move up from step 1 to step 14.
The salary schedule for the school system’s teachers shows that the entry level salary for a first year teacher with a Bachelor’s degree is $50,073.
The salary rises to $87,256 for a teacher with a B.A. and 14 years of experience. More advanced degrees yield a higher salary. A teacher with advanced degrees at step 14, the top step, will earn $100,524 by 2021.
A View of the Steps
For the first time in teacher contract history, after a review, a teacher may receive a raise but not a step in the first year. Going beyond year one, salary increases are paid through the step process.
Teachers advance one step per year after being evaluated. A goal-setting meeting and mid-year conferences also are held each year on teacher performance, Twohill said. “There is language in the contract for the BOE to be able to withhold, for unsatisfactory performance by a teacher, half of their proposed salary increase at the top step or all of an annual step increase to those teachers in steps 1 – 13.”
Health Cost Changes
One of the goals of this contract, Twohill said at a the December RTM meeting, was to limit the town’s health care costs. To that end, teachers’ contribution to their health insurance plan calls for increasing the teacher contribution by 16.5 percent the first year, 17.5 percent the second year, and 18 percent the third year.
Changes in the health plan began in prior teachers’ contract and have continued with this one. “Other contract features include changing the workers’ compensation language to be more protective of BOE resources (paid sick leave gets tapped into more,) Twohill wrote in minutes filed by his committee. He added, “Branford will continue to pay greatly higher salaries than other similar towns.”
BCTV
RTM Member Marc Riccio
Marc Riccio (pictured), a Republican RTM member from the Sixth District, has typically voted against town contracts in the past. This time he praised the efforts to both reduce salaries and be mindful of town needs. He said he would support this contract because he likes the direction it is taking and it is mindful of “fiscal responsiblity.” He said RTM members asked good questions.
“It’s a good contract,” he declared, praising Superintendent of Schools Hamlet Hernandez and BOE chair Michael Krause for their work. He also noted the role of Vincent Baglio, a former Republican RTM member, who initiated a number of the contract changes now underway. Also praised for his work in this contract was former RTM member Bob Imperato, now a member of the Board of Finance. He attended the RTM meeting on Dec. 13.
Twohill observed at the RTM meeting that “this contract is coming in lower than any other teachers’ contract in the past.”
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