Harvard District 50, teachers' union agree to contract

HARVARD – District 50's school board approved a four-year contract for its 150 teachers at a special board meeting Monday night. 

The contract gives teachers a pay increase of 3.5 percent in each year of the contract.

The teachers' union voted to approve the contract Friday.

“Our members recognized this as a good package during tough economic times,” Mary Cooke, lead negotiator and president of the union, said in a news release. 

“We are glad we were able to preserve many of our benefits and increase important other benefits such as tuition reimbursement. The [union's] goal was to make sure the package was as fair as possible to our members.”

School board members say they too are happy with the contract. Bill Clow, school district spokesman, said the teachers' pay increases are in the budget.

 “This contract increases total spending by 3.5 percent [each year], which we felt was reasonable,” Dick Stoxen, lead negotiator for the District 50 school board, said in a news release.  “There are many nuances and changes in the contract, and not every employee will be impacted the same. 

"The goals for the board were to hold overall spending to a reasonable level, make District 50 more attractive to prospective new teachers, and encourage current staff to continue to increase their skills through additional training and education. I believe we accomplished all of that.” 

The contract goes into effect immediately and will be retroactive to the beginning of the school year.

District 50's annual budget is $24.7 million, Clow said.

– Tim Kane