New Westlake Schools Contract Will Increase Teachers' Salaries

WESTLAKE, OH — The Westlake Teacher's Association (WTA) and the Westlake Board of Education have agreed to a new, three-year contract for the district's certified staff. The new contract will begin July 1, 2018 and includes a 2.25 percent increase to base salaries for all three years. This is the first increase on base pay for teachers since the 2011-2012 school year.

In 2013-2014, the district actually reduced base pay by 2.5 percent. The district said in a statement that teachers' base salaries will not exceed the level they were at in 2012-2013 until the 2019-2020 school year. However, the contract says the third year of the agreement will only go into effect if the district treasurer can certify that the Westlake Schools can afford it.

“The Westlake City School District is dedicated to fiscal responsibility and transparency while providing high-quality teachers and staff and an excellent education for our students,” said Superintendent Scott Goggin. “The meeting arrangement we have with the WTA, born out of the last round of negotiations, has opened up communication and established language to help move us forward. We were able to provide our certified staff with a base raise as well as flexibility in health care while keeping in line with our fiscal projections. I’d like to thank the WTA, district leadership and the Board for working together and coming to a resolution so efficiently.”

The district said it was able to arrive at a deal with the WTA because it has held monthly meetings between WTA representatives and district leadership.

“Our goal is to continue to move Westlake forward,” said WTA President Patrick McMorrow in a statement. “Holding the monthly meetings has allowed us to maintain open, two-way communication focused on creating solutions to maintain our focus on high-quality education. As such, we were able to come to a contract resolution in a positive and timely manner.”

The district says the contract will also provide cost-savings in the form of multiple health care options. Basically, the district will offer additional health care plans for employees that don't want or need extensive insurance.

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