School Board, union ratify Newfound teacher’s contract

BRISTOL — The Newfound Area School Board and the Newfound Teachers Union have ratified a new, three-year contract that will go to the voters for approval in March.

The current contract expires on June 30, 2019, and the new contract, beginning July 1, 2019, would provide wage increases of 1.25 percent, 1 percent, and 1 percent, respectively, over the three years covered in the agreement.

The cost items in the contract amount to a $228,414 increase for 2019-20, $227,765 in 2020-21, and $220,980 in 2021-22. Superintendent Stacy Buckley said the increases are intended to keep teacher compensation competitive with other school districts in the area.

“Teachers are moving because of the economy,” she said during the School Board’s Nov. 13 meeting, noting that compensation for Newfound teachers is “more toward the bottom” in the Lakes Region.

On Monday, she said that the state’s most recent data, for the 2016-17 school year, showed that, of the districts that Newfound directly competes with for teachers — Laconia, Winnisquam, Franklin, Shaker Regional, Pemi-Baker, Plymouth, Hill, Kearsarge and Inter-Lakes — only Franklin has a lower starting salary. Newfound is in the mid-to-low range for experienced teachers, she said.

The new contract also would increase longevity stipends from $100 to $125, but it clarified the language around longevity to say that teachers leaving the district and then returning would be starting over on longevity. It also clarifies the policy for teachers who do not work full-time.

Another provision of the new contract has teachers providing additional hours for professional development. Currently, teachers are responsible for attending six professional development days. The new contract provides for up to nine early release days when teachers will stay an additional hour beyond their normal day, allowing for additional professional development time.

The first-year cost figure includes $10,000 for adjusting co-curricular stipends, which Buckley said are uneven right now. A committee would be established to suggest adjustments in the schedule to make the stipends competitive and fair, she said.

Teacher contracts currently are done on paper, but the new agreement allows the district to move to electronic contracts.

Teacher benefits would be remain unchanged, Buckley said.