Negotiations between the district and the Eastern Lancaster County Education Association were to resume at 4 today at the district office.
A mediator from the Pennsylvania Bureau of Mediation has been called in to act as a neutral party to the discussions.
“We have made substantial progress in the last two meetings and tonight will be the third meeting that the mediator has been involved,” district solicitor Eric Athey said. “Progress had been relatively slow until recently, but (it’s) been amicable.”
The sticking points are salary and health care, association president Michael Saylor said in an e-mail.
Better salaries will attract better teachers, Saylor said.
“Our Association is committed to keeping quality education in Eastern Lancaster County,” Saylor wrote.
Discussions between the parties began in the spring of 2005. Early-bird talks ended in October 2005 and more formal negotiations began in January, Saylor said.
Since the last two contracts were approved early, the two parties have not really gone over the issues in detail for eight years, Saylor said.
The Eastern Lancaster County Education Association has 248 professional members.
Superintendent Saundra Hoover, who has not been involved in negotiations, feels hopeful.
“I think we will get a resolution, and I think it will be fair,” she said.
She also said teachers have maintained their professionalism throughout the process. And the school year is running, “business as usual.”
According to the district’s expired four-year contract, starting teachers with a bachelor’s degree earned $36,191 in the 2005-06 school year.
A teacher with a master’s degree on step 20 (about 20 years of service) earned $65,175.
Teachers earn more money with more years of service and when they continue their education.
Under health care options in the old contract, teachers could choose from three plans. Most are enrolled in the point-of-service plan. The annual contribution for this plan ranged from $120 for the employee alone, $417.12 for the employee with one dependent and $696 for the employee with family coverage.
Ephrata and Hempfield school districts are among the handful of county districts to approve contracts within the past year.
Ephrata approved an early-bird, four-year contract in January that started July 1 and ends June 30, 2010.
Ephrata teachers will get raises of 3.8 to 3.9 percent. A starting salary for a teacher with a bachelor’s degree is $35,883. By the end of the agreement, that reaches $41,198.
It also gave teachers guaranteed planning time, at least 45 consecutive minutes a day.
In April, Hempfield approved a new four-year contract that includes an annual average salary increase of 3.77 percent and doesn’t call for teachers to contribute more to their health care plans. It ends June 2010.
The starting salary for a first-year teacher with a bachelor’s degree at Hempfield is $36,120.
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