The Quakertown Community School District has reached a tentative three-year agreement with its professional staff members, which includes teachers, counselors, and nurses. The Quakertown Community Education Association voted throughout the weekend to accept the contract.

            The deal, which takes effect after the current five-year contract expires on June 30, calls for annual salary increases on scale of 1.5, 1.0 and 1.5 percent. Teachers at the top of the salary scale will receive a $500 bonus each year. Column and step movements on the salary matrix are frozen in the first year of the deal. Advancement resumes in years two and three. Teachers will pay more for health insurance, increasing their contribution from 15 percent to 17 percent in the final year, according to a news release provided Monday by Gary Weckselblatt, the disrict's director of communications. 

            "We have placed a lot of additional burden on teachers this year and we believe the increases in compensation are warranted for that reason," said Ron Jackson, chairman of the School Board's Human Resources Committee, in the prepared statement. "They are not excessive given the state of the economy and are well within the ability of the district to pay them."

            Jackson added, "This result is typical of a good negotiation. Neither side got exactly what they wanted. It is the best result to move forward for the best education of our kids."  

            Ryan Wieand, president of the 333-member QCEA, said, "I am happy we were able to continue the history of a positive, professional negotiation with good faith bargaining between both sides. This is a very fair tentative agreement."

            This year, a first-year teacher is making $47,667 while the salary of a teacher at the top of the pay scale is $106,463. In the last year of the new contract, a first-year teacher will be making $49,781. A teacher at the top of the pay scale will earn $111,184.  

            The annual compensation increase averages a maximum of $1.8 million a year. The actual number is expected to be less due to attritional savings.

            The tentative contract will be on the agenda for discussion at the February 11th meeting of school directors. It will not be voted on until the board's March 11th meeting for transparency purposes. This gives the public a full month to view the presentation, a precedent set by the board with the current contract five years ago.