Hopkins to Vote on 5.7 Percent Teacher Contract Increase

Hopkins teachers are on track to get a little something extra in their stockings this year.

and the Hopkins Education Association have arrived at a tentative agreement that would increase the teachers' contract by 5.7 percent over two years.

“I think it’s a fair and balanced contract—especially with the fiscal climate the state is in and, as a result, the fiscal climate the district is under,” Superintendent John Schultz said. “It’s a difficult fiscal climate right now.”

The School Board and the teachers must still approve the contract. The board is scheduled to take up the matter during a special meeting at 10 a.m. Wednesday. Patch could not immediately determine when teachers will vote on the agreement.

The increases

Insurance premiums would see the biggest percentage increase under the contract—climbing 8 percent for 2011-12 and 5 percent in 2012-13, when it will be $635 a month.

Those amounts cover the entire premium for a teacher who chooses individual coverage—a coverage level consistent with current benefits. The district also pays the entire dental insurance premium.

Various aspects of teacher pay would also increase:

• Maximum pay would increase 1.5 percent in both the 2011-12 and 2012-13 school years.
• Minimum pay would grow 1 percent in 2012-13.
• Coaches who are members of the Hopkins Education Association will receive a 2 percent increase in 2011-12. Coaches who are not dues-paying members will not see a pay increase.
• Leadership stipends will climb by 2 percent the first year.

Hopkins uses a unique pay scale called the Hopkins Compensation Model that has incentives for performance and education with a minimum and maximum pay for each education level.

Under the proposed contract, a teacher earning the average $65,868, excluding fringe benefits, would see that grow to $68,212 the first year and $70,197 the second.

Adult basic education and early childhood family education staff, who are also covered under the contract, would see smaller increases of $161 and $137 in the next two years.

Pay is retroactive to Aug. 30, with back pay expected to go out Feb. 15.

More than expected

This year’s pay and benefit raise exceeds the last contract’s 4.97 percent increase.

It is also larger than anticipated.

District planners originally penciled in increases of 8 percent for health insurance and 1 percent each year for pay. The extra half-point in pay amounts to about $240,000 in addition costs for a contract worth $95.3 million over the next two years, said John Toop, the district’s director of business services.

Those increases come at a time when the state money that makes up most of the district’s revenue has been declining—forcing local taxpayers to pick up more of the tab. Schultz said the district detailed the tough economic environment when talking with union leaders.

But he added that the contract is low relative to other districts and that the district wants to ensure it can stay competitive when hiring and “recogniz(e) that employees are valued and we value the process of negotiation.”

Negotiating procedures

Negotiators put the finishing touches on the contract at about the same time they have historically—despite delays from this year’s budget impasse that left funding levels unknown throughout much of the summer.

The parties also arrived at the agreement without the Jan. 15 deadline that once penalized school districts if they didn’t resolve contract disputes before then. State lawmakers eliminated that deadline this year.

Union leaders could not immediately be reached for comment. Patch will update the story with their comments once we are able to reach them.