On Tuesday night, September 1, the Verona Board of Education ratified a new contract with Verona’s public school teachers’ union that will realize more savings on healthcare costs.
The contract with the Verona Education Association, as the teachers’ union is known, is retroactive to July 1, 2015 and will run through June 30, 2018. Negotiations on the new contract began back in September 2014. It provides salary increases of 2.77%, 2.50% and 2.50% in each year of the contract, but the district noted that the distribution of salary varies across the salary guide depending on individual staff credentials.
The focus of the new contract remains the same as the last two: Cutting the cost of the teachers’ healthcare coverage. Under the new contract, they will change again to a lower-cost plan, with an annualized savings of approximately $116,000. Taken with the changes in the previous two contracts, the BOE said it has been able to reallocate more than $700,000 from the healthcare budget into the district operating budget. The BOE noted that VEA staff will now contribute about 21% of the overall premium costs for their medical insurance coverage.
“The success of our school district is very dependent on attracting the best teaching staff for our students,” said BOE President John Quattrocchi in a prepared statement. “A comprehensive package that combines salary, benefits and professional support for our staff ensures we are all working together towards common successes.”
“We are pleased to have a competitive contract for our teachers, administrative assistants, custodians, maintenance personnel, medical staff, and counselors,” said VEA President Christopher Tamburro in a statement. “The Verona Education Association and the Board of Education share a commitment to providing educational and work environments that promote quality instruction and service to the community. The ability of our two groups to ratify this agreement prior to the start of the school year is evidence of our continued positive working relationship. Such successful collaborative efforts benefit the students of Verona.”
