RTSD OKs New Teachers Union Contract

RADNOR TOWNSHIP, PA – While two neighboring school districts are locked in contract battles, the Radnor Township School District and the Radnor Township Education Association are in the clear for five more years as the school board approved a new contract this week.

At the Sept. 26 Radnor Township School District School Board meeting, the board members voted unanimously to OK a five-year contract agreement with the RTEA.

Nearby, Lower Merion and Tredyffrin/Easttown school districts are struggling to reach contract agreements with their respective teacher unions. The RTEA and RTSD agreed on a tentative contract in early September.

The contract stipulates members of the RTEA will get a 2.7 percent pay increase in the 2018-2019 school year, a 2.92 percent increase in 2o19-202o, a 2.45 percent increase in 2020-2021, a 2.53 percent increase in 2021-2022, and a 2.36 percent increase in 2022-2023.

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Additionally, the contract provides for bonuses for teachers at the top of the pay scale.

“People move to - and stay in - Radnor for the community and the schools,” RTEA President Dave Wood said. “This agreement should assure them that the District and its teachers are on the same page and ready to do great things over the next five years.”

Teachers in the district on average earn a salary of $87,213.76, making them the 18th highest earning teachers in the state, according to Pennsylvania Department of Education data.

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"The Board was eager to work with our teachers to develop a long-term plan for sustainability,” RTSD School Board President David Falcone said. “We thank the faculty for their willingness to join us in the development of this agreement for the benefit of our students and the Radnor community. We hope that the positive result from such a collaborative process will help to create a new normal for our District in which the teachers, staff, administration and Board can communicate openly and work together in furtherance of Radnor excellence.”

The current contract between the RTEA and RTSD expires in August 2018, and the new contract will go into effect starting on Sept. 1, 2018 through Aug. 31, 2023.

Image via Radnor Township School District