Nahant teachers to receive pay hikes under new contract

NAHANT – Johnson School teachers will receive raises totaling 7 percent over the next three years but the district has capped reimbursements for teachers who take additional courses in their field, according to a recently signed teachers’ contract.”(Raises) add up to 7 percent compared with the town’s adding to 9 percent,” Superintendent Philip Devaux told the Advisory and Finance Committee at a joint meeting of school officials and that board Wednesday evening. “The professional development capped at $6,000 is a new feature of the teachers’ contract as well ? I think it’s a very fair contract for both sides.”The new contract extends from Sept. 1, 2011 to Aug. 31, 2014, according to a copy of the document. The previous contract gave teachers raises totaling 10 percent over three years and was in effect from Sept. 1, 2007 to Aug. 31, 2010 and then extended a year, according to that document.The School Committee ratified the contract at its Jan. 10 meeting, but the teachers’ union did not sign the contract until this week, according to school officials. Union officials could not be reached for comment on Friday afternoon.School officials identified two major changes in the contract.Teachers will receive a raise of 2 percent on day 91 of the 2011-2012 school year – effectively a 1-percent raise for the year, Devaux said. Teachers receive a 2-percent raise on the first day of the 2012-2013 school year and a 3-percent raise on the first day of the 2013-2014 school year, according to the document.Devaux said each percent in salary increases costs the district $9,000, at the Jan. 10 meeting.As in the 2007-2010 contract, teachers will be reimbursed up to $600 for “courses and related materials taken in their field of specialization that enhances their teaching performance,” according to the new contract.But the district has set a budget of $6,000 for this reimbursement each school year in the new contract. There are 10 classroom teachers at the Johnson School this year, school budget documents note.School Committee Chair Christine Kendall and Devaux both said earlier this month they would have preferred to give teachers more.”It would have been our preference to match the town employees,” Devaux said. “But the financial resources given by the town to the schools does not make that possible.”Kendall said she didn’t think the decrease in pay raises from the previous contract would make retaining teachers difficult, however.”The teachers that are in the school, love the school,” Kendall said. “Teachers don’t want to leave, they want to stay.”Cyrus Moulton can be reached at [email protected].