Bonita Morin speaks Oct. 16 at the Auburn School Committee meeting in support of negotiating a new contract. Morin was an educational technician for 20 years and, after some time off, is now back at Auburn Middle School as a substitute, filling her previous position, which has been left unfilled. Morin suspects the vacancy is due to low pay and says she has always needed a second full-time job to make ends meet. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

AUBURN — The school district and about 100 educational technicians and secretaries have found the middle ground for a new contract with raises and improved benefits, all within the current budget.

After two rounds of negotiations since September, the parties have agreed on 3% raises each year in a three-year contract. According to Tim Schick, director at Maine Education Association, the district was initially offering increases of 2%, 2% and 1% over the three years. Workers sought raises of 3%, 5% and 5% to make up for inflation and stagnant wages.

“The wages will be up 3% each of the three years,” said Warren Leunig, co-vice president of the Auburn Education Association. Leunig was one of the negotiators for the new contract. “On top of that, there will paid lunch breaks for ed techs and secretaries, as well as increased single insurance coverage, ” he added.

The parties found a way around limited health insurance coverage, which was one of the major points of disagreement in the negotiations. Under the previous contract, ed techs had individual coverage for medical insurance only — having to pay for dependent coverage out of pocket. That remains unchanged but the district will cover more of their individual plans, up to 93% by the end of the next three years.

“Dependent coverage for ed techs was very expensive,” Leunig explained. “Instead, we focused on getting their single insurance up, add to the percentage the district covered. They’re going to get three percent more covered from their single insurance in years 2 and 3. Currently, the district covers 87% of their health insurance. In year 2, coverage goes up to 90% and eventually, 93% in year 3.”

“They still don’t have insurance for their dependents. They have to pay for it out of pocket or go on MaineCare,” Leunig added.

“All ed techs and secretaries will be able get the same number of holidays no matter how long they’ve worked in the district,” Leunig said. “For the first time, they will get a three-day bereavement leave,” he added.

“We made gains in all the areas that we were seeking to get movement,” Leunig said.

According to Leunig, ed techs and secretaries will be presented with the proposed contract next week ahead of the School Committee meeting. Members of the Maine Education Association will get to vote on the tentative contract. If approved, the School Committee will take another vote. “If ratified, we’ll have a little contract signing to make it official and then it’ll go into effect in December, most likely,” Leunig added.

“Currently, we are not at liberty to discuss specific details until the contract is approved by both the support unit members and the School Committee,” committee Chairperson Pamela Albert said Tuesday in an email. “However, we are optimistic that both parties will approve an agreement that we feel is fair to the support unit and the School Committee while also considerate of taxpayer interests,” she added.

The next School Committee meeting is slated for Nov. 20.