Franklin Regional, teachers’ union ratify new 6-year contract
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The Franklin Regional School District and its teachers’ union ratified a new contract covering the next six years.
“I think it’s a fair deal,” said Mike Landsberg, president of the Franklin Regional Education Association. “I think both sides can look at it and say, given the circumstances where we are right now teaching in unprecedented times, that it’s fair and can put us in a position to continue with positive dialogue moving forward.”
Landsberg said the negotiation process took roughly a year.
Among the highlights in the contract:
• Salary increases on the pay scale will average of 2% over the life of the contract. Total salary costs will increase by an average of 3.12% annually. The average teacher salary in the district is $81,731, according to OpenPA.gov’s school payroll database, however that number can be skewed based on the number of veteran teachers in a district.
The starting salary for a teacher with a bachelor’s degree, on the first step of the salary scale in 2021-22, will go from $59,500 in the first year to $65,800 in the final year (2027-28).
The full breadth of the salary range varies by year, but Landsberg said the new contract creates uniform steps by its final year, with a range of $36,800 between the novice and master steps on each column of the salary scale.
• Increased flexibility and more options for professional development.
• A memorandum of understanding recognizing the efforts of teachers to provide online instruction during the pandemic and providing the framework necessary to build an online academy.
That effort is currently underway, with district officials working alongside counterparts in the Norwin and Hempfield Area school districts on the Westmoreland Online Academy.
“Online, and what we’ve been calling hybrid education, was a huge focus of our discussions and will continue to be,” Landsberg said. “Both sides recognized that this is an evolving situation. And we need to continue to discuss the best ways to adapt and make sure we’re taking care of kids’ needs without sacrificing the quality education our families have come to expect.”
A total of six teachers — two from each district — will be assigned a grade level and will provide daily, real-time learning to a class of students from all three school districts, according the Hempfield Area Superintendent Tammy Wolicki.
In addition to the grade-level teachers, specialty teachers from two districts will provide a weekly lesson for art, music, physical education and more.
Franklin Regional Assistant Superintendent Robin Pynos said the goal is to have the consortium become a long-term program that will allow districts to share resources “so we can provide the best education for our kids.”
As of mid-August, a little more than 20 students from each district had enrolled in the program.
Contract negotiations did not touch on the topic of teacher vaccinations.
Landsberg said he’s happy to see both the union and district ratify the new contract.
“We’ve always prided ourselves on having a really good relationship with our administrative team and school board directors,” he said. “It doesn’t mean negotiations are always easy, but we appreciate that they’re open to dialogue with us.”