Staff receives additional retirement, leave and insurance compensation
Westfield Washington Schools (WWS) has announced the ratification of a new contract for teachers and staff that will produce an increase in pay for every teacher on their staff. In addition to the pay increase for current certified employees, the school district increased the starting salary of a new teacher to $43,150 and will increase it to $45,000 in the coming year.
Other negotiated benefits for WWS teachers include:
- Retirement incentives for cashing out sick days
- Increased parental and adoption leave
- Added general bereavement leave (if deceased is not immediately related to staff members)
- Increased funds set aside for healthcare benefits
“We are so thankful for everything our teachers are doing for our students and our community,” said Director of Human Resources and Safety Chris Baldwin. “Westfield Washington Schools has a storied and documented track record of academic excellence and that is a direct result of having and retaining amazing classroom teachers who would do everything possible to see their students succeed. Teachers have been and continue to be faced with unique and unexpected challenges, so we want our current teachers and teachers considering Westfield to know that we value them as professionals and as people. This pay increase is just one way we show it.”
This pay increase completes the district’s effort to increase pay for all its employees across the district. Earlier this year, the district announced an across-the-board raise of at least 2 percent (and a 2 percent stipend for employees at the top of the pay scale) for all non-certified staff, including instructional assistants, maintenance, groundskeeping, tech staff, front office support staff and bus drivers. WWS also increased daily compensation for substitute teachers. Substitute teachers now receive $80 per day to fill in at any of the district’s nine schools.
Westfield Classroom Teachers Association (WCTA) President Chris Sluder said that the great relationship between the union and administration makes negotiations easy.
“Our teachers are incredible, hard-working professionals and we want to get the most possible for them out of a settlement,” Sluder said. “At the same time, we must balance that goal with the realities of state funding, keeping the school corporation in good fiscal standing, and seeing to the needs of all employees in the district. So, we deeply value the continued positive working relationship that we have with our administration. It’s because of this relationship that we can come to a quick settlement that benefits all parties.”
For more information, or to see the master contract, click here.