At their meeting last week, the K-8 School Committee concluded months of negotiation by unanimously ratifying a new three-year contract for secretaries and support professionals. The details of the contract are similar to those approved by other school unions earlier this year.
In the first year of the contract, secretaries and support staff will receive a 2% pay increase, followed by a 1.25% increase the second year, and a 1.5% increase the third.
Like the other school unions, the secretary union agreed to increase their health insurance contribution from 20% to 25%. To offset the increase, current employees on an individual health plan will get an additional $100 annually, and those on a family plan will get $400 annually.
Superintendent Charles Gobron said secretaries and support personnel are hourly employees, and without the offset for health insurance, many would have seen their paychecks decrease under the new contract.
Negotation with the secretary union began this summer, Gobron said. The union also voted to accept the new contract last week.
