The Upper Perkiomen School Board voted last week to ratify a new three-year contract with the district's teachers.

                Vice President Reann Hofkin cast the lone vote on Sept. 8 against the deal, which reflects a total package increase of 3 percent in the first year, 2 percent in the second year and 2.5 percent in the third year, according to information provided by Superintendent Alexis McGloin.

                 Both sides reached a tentative agreement in August to replace the old contract, which expired June 30, McGloin said.

                The teachers ratified the agreement Sept. 1, according to Robert LaSalle, president of the Upper Perkiomen Education Association.

                According to McGloin, the school board and the union worked together to reach a fair and equitable contract that provides needed changes for both sides.

                "We are pleased that the teacher's union and school board were able to come to a resolution that will benefit the district, staff and students," McGloin said in the prepared statement. "The sides worked well together to resolve this agreement in a timely manner."

           The contract – which expires June 30, 2019 – re-indexes salary structures to decrease movement through the salary scale, according to district officials. Starting salaries will increase from $42,935 in the 2015-16 school year to $44,251 in 2016-17 school year and the maximum salary at Master's plus 30 credits increases from $97,814 to $100,003 during the same period.

                According to LaSalle, the increase in salaries will allow the district to continue to attract quality teachers.

                "One of our goals was to make some gains in the area of salary," LaSalle wrote in an email.  "Our teachers working toward the top of the salary schedule have seen two complete freezes over the past four years. So we were able to do a little bit in that area."

                According to LaSalle, the union hoped to win contractual guarantees for class sizes throughout the district and additional preparation time.

                He said teachers view limiting class size as a way to make the schools a little better by making sure the numbers of students in any one class would not become excessive.

                "Some of our classes have really high numbers," wrote LaSalle, a special education teacher at the high school. "When you're pushing class sizes of 30 kids, it becomes more difficult to reach every kid in class.  We have some elementary and middle school classes pushing towards that number, and high school classes that have exceeded it."

                Elementary teachers lost preparation and planning time when the schedule was revised several years ago, according to LaSalle. He said similar time for teachers at the high school will be devoted to monitoring lunch and in-school suspension.

                "We used to hire people to handle those tasks, freeing teachers to spend more time in lesson-planning and design, but we no longer do so," LaSalle wrote in the same message. "With all of the new programs we are trying to implement at the high school, that loss of time to spend working on lessons, grading, research, development of on-line materials and other educationally relevant tasks will be a significant loss."

                The contract includes no salary step movement in the second year, according to release. It also includes changes to prescription coverage effective Jan. 1, 2017 and medical coverage effective July 1, 2017.        

                Modifications to the contract include the elimination of the district's most expensive health plan in exchange for a lower-cost alternative, the addition of a third tier for prescriptions along with mandatory mail order, and an increase in the premium share in years two and three, according to information provided by the superintendent.

                Tuition reimbursement and advancement on the salary schedule will be subject to stricter guidelines, according to McGloin. She wrote in the release that additional changes were made to better reflect current or preferred practices that will not have financial impact.