Wantagh School District, teachers settle contract

The Wantagh Board of Education and Wantagh United Teachers have reached a deal on a new teachers’ contact, ending a year of negotiations.

A preliminary deal was reached on June 23 at a late-night negotiating session, and a Memorandum of Agreement was signed by parties from both sides on July 1. It was later approved by the full Board of Education and ratified by the membership of the union. The contract is for four years.

There were no salary increases for the recently completed school year, and there will be none in the coming year. Salaries will rise .5 percent in 2016-17 and .75 percent in the final year of the contract.

The agreement ensures that teachers will continue to get their longevity-based step increases each year. Wantagh United Teachers President Tom Vereline said that early in negotiations, the district was insisting on a hard salary freeze, which would have meant no step increases for a year.

“That was one of the key things,” he said, “that everybody get their steps for all four years. It keeps everybody moving on the salary scale.”

Vereline said that the money lost in a one-year freeze can compound to tens of thousands of dollars over the life of a teacher’s career.

Teachers on the “frozen” steps in Wantagh’s salary schedule will get a retroactive, one-time $500 payment for the 2014-15 school year. Teachers on step 25, the top level, will receive an additional 1 percent in back pay.

The contract also raises the stipend payments — for teachers who take on extra duties, such as coaching a team or advising a club — by 2 percent for each of the next three years. Vereline said that those stipends have not been increased in five years.

Teachers who tutor students outside school will receive a raise from $40 per hour to $60. There is also an increase in the unused sick-leave payout that a teacher can receive upon retiring from the district.

According to one provision added to the contract, if a teacher dies while still working for the district, his or her spouse will be entitled to the unused sick leave payout. Vereline said it is a clause he hopes will never be invoked, but was important to teachers. “It’s something that you’ve earned,” he said.

The district will contribute an extra $50 per year, for each full-time employee, to the Wantagh Benefit Trust Fund. Created in the 1990s, the fund is managed by the union and pays for benefits such as dental and life insurance. Vereline said that the district’s contribution had not increased in five years, so the boost was needed to keep the fund solvent.

Teachers must be available at least one day per week after school for extra help. The district will also now allow teachers to take online courses for additional credits, but only though accredited universities.

Superintendent Maureen Goldberg said the contract is fair, and that she would be glad to begin the new school year on a positive note. “We are so very happy to have this settled,” she said. “It’s always very difficult when any of our groups are working without an agreement.”

Vereline credited Goldberg with helping get a deal done, saying the superintendent typically is not part of the negotiations in Wantagh. He said that while some teachers were unhappy with the contract and voted against the deal, an “overwhelming majority” were in favor. He added that he wished the salary increases were higher, but the contract reflects the reality of the economic constraints on school districts. “The days of seeing 3, 4, 4½ percent increases are gone because of the property tax cap,” he said.

About 200 teachers appeared at the June 18 board meeting, wearing Wantagh United Teachers T-shirts and urging the board to settle the contact, and five days later a deal was reached.

“I’m satisfied,” Vereline said. “Honestly, I think it’s a very fair contact. Both sides gave a little bit.”