Teachers' contract signed by both parties
By Caitlyn Kelleher JOURNAL REPORTER

The Ashburnham-Westminster Regional School Committee authorized their chairman to sign the memorandum of agreement with the district's teachers' association to formally agree on the contract, which released the details of the new contract to the public.

The contract spells out increases over the life of the three-year contract, which becomes retroactive to July 1, 2007, and increased health plan co-pays as well as other small changes to the contract.

"We're satisfied with the agreement," said School Committee Chairman David Christianson.

The agreement was ratified by a unanimous vote of the School Committee and a supporting vote of John Fairbanks, the Westminster Selectman that served as the municipal representative to the negotiating team.

The agreement had been ratified by a 106-5 vote by the Teachers' Association's membership, with one person abstaining.

"The teachers are very pleased with the terms," said David LaRoche, the chair of the negotiations committee for the Teachers' Association.

The teachers will receive a 2 percent increase in their salary schedule this year, a 2.5 percent increase next year and a 3 percent increase in year three of the contract. The co-pay structure has also changed as part the teacher's health insurance plan.

Christianson said these increases will save the district substantial money in future years as part of a way to manage healthinsurance costs. Some of these changes will increase a doctor's visit from a $5 co-pay to a $15 co-pay, increase prescription copays, and add a co-pay for MRI/CAT/PET scans.

"We wanted to retain our health benefits. We compromised on the plan's design," LaRoche said.

One of the other major changes is that the nurses were brought into line more with the teacher's pay schedule, but it still remained separate.

Christianson said this made big steps forward, but LaRoche said the nurses were hoping for a little bit more.

It will take about 30 to 90 days for the formal language of the agreement to be drawn up in contract form but all of the terms will take effect immediately.

The two parties announced a tentative agreement in the middle of March, after having two face-to-face meetings on March 3 and March 10, ending 14 months of negotiations. The frustration level on both sides seemed to reach a peak in January and February when teachers began protesting for "a fair contract."

The two parties were meeting with a mediator after School Committee members expressed frustration at the treatment they were receiving by the association's MTA representative.

In March, LaRoche credited the change in dynamics to the face-to-face meeting that began happening after the association got a new representative from the Massachusetts Teachers' Association.

LaRoche said this puts all scheduled activities and teachers' activities back to normal. The group has stopped the informational protests and plans to work for the eighth-grade field trip and awards ceremony, which teachers said they would skip if the contract was not resolved.

"I think it's something that is taken for granted to our time goes well beyond the classroom," LaRoche said.