OXFORD — The Oxford Hills School District teachers’ union contract, which officials said makes “significant changes” to the pay scale, has been ratified by the union and the Board of Directors.

The new contract, in part, gives teachers a three-year base pay increase of 2 percent, 2.25 percent and 2.25 percent over the three years and reduces the annual costs of steps and boosts the starting teacher pay to $30,600.

The teachers ratified the contract last week during a two-day vote. The Oxford Hills School District ratified the contract at its meeting Monday night.

“We’re still trying to work through the issues (of education mandates) and struggling like other schools across the state,” Superintendent Rick Colpitts said. He said he was pleased that negotiations went smoothly.

The contract will probably be signed next week, he said.

A representative from the union was not available for comment Tuesday.

Colpitts said that some of the “significant changes” to the pay scale include reducing the number of steps from 21 to 11 and boosting first year teachers’ salary from $27,797 to $30,600, beginning July 1.

The step level is a part of a teacher’s salary schedule, which is based on years of experience and education. Each school district negotiates its own schedule but generally for each additional year of work, a teacher moves another step on the schedule to a higher pay level.

Under the new contract, teachers will get a step increase of $2,224 every second year instead of the annual $1,112, Colpitts said. The money retained every other year will then be reinvested to boost the base pay of first-year teachers from $27,797 to $30,600, he said. State law requires schools to pay a minimum $30,000 base pay, but until this coming fiscal year, the state had also picked up the difference between a school district base pay and what it required. Now school districts are responsible for the difference.

While there are no actual overall savings in the reduction of steps, Colpitts said it is a way to get the pay scale up to the regional average, which begins at $32,000 and tops out at about $60,000. Oxford Hills School District expects to be at that average in about three years.

The contract changes also include an additional step after 25 years of service in the second and third year of that person’s contract. The cost to the district for the steps and increase on the teacher’s base pay is 3.09 percent per year, based on the existing staff, Colpitts said.

Colpitts said the negotiating teams included five Oxford Hills School District board members and four teachers’ union representatives.

The board also approved mid-management and executive contracts Monday night, giving principals, assistant principals, adult education director and guidance directors a 2 percent raise for the next fiscal year. Their three-year contract is opened each year for wage negotiations.

The executive contracts for superintendent, assistant superintendent, special education director, business manager and curriculum coordinator are individual and nonunion negotiated annually. They negotiated a 2 percent pay increase for next year.

Both bargaining units have gone without a pay raise for the past several years, Colpitts said.

He said several of the eight bargaining units in the district are negotiating contracts, including the education technicians levels 2 and 3, and secretaries.

ldixon@sunjournal.com

OXFORD — In addition to pay scale changes, other changes in the three-year teachers’ union contract for Oxford Hills School District include the following:

* Increasing the probation period from two to three years.

* Rehiring retired teachers at 75 percent of step without insurance benefits.

* Forming a committee to investigate insurance options.

* Addressing changes in medical and dependent care funds, should they be amended by the IRS.

* Clarifying employee responsibilities for maintaining certification and returning individual contracts and outlining consequences for those who fail to meet the responsibilities.

* Limiting course reimbursement.

* Changing from nine classes per year (unlimited credits ) to nine credits per year.

* Limiting tuition payment to the University of Maine.

* Funding stipends at the 2009-10 level.

* Increasing the stipend for lead teachers at schools with shared principals ($2,810 instead of $1,405). This impacts lead teachers at Agnes Gray School, Hebron Station School, Harrison Elementary School, Otisfield Community School and Waterford Memorial School.

Some of the changes are to meet recent state and federal requirements.

ldixon@sunjournal.com

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