EVERETT — Teachers in the Everett School District have agreed to a new two-year labor contract.
The agreement was ratified Tuesday night and later approved by the Everett School Board.
The contract provides 2-percent increases each of the next two years for teachers with less than 17 years experience , said Kim Mead, president of the 1,100-member Everett Education Association.
The settlement provides a 3 percent increase for teachers with 17 or more years of experience.
It also provides progressive $500 payments for teachers with 20, 23, and 26 years, reaching up to $2,000 more for teachers with 29 or more years experience.
“This was a critical piece to the overall settlement and resolution would not have been possible without this recognition of service along with other parts of the agreement,” said Mike Wartelle, chief negotiator for the union.
Roughly 700 teachers voted on the proposal, giving it a 98 percent “yes” vote.
Mead said the union and district tried a new bargaining process that included priority issues. Each side raised a limited number of issues instead of discussing the entire contract.
“We wanted to see if it was possible to set up an earlier bargaining finish,” Mead said.
She said she is glad that the district, its teachers and students and families can go into summer vacation knowing that a contract is in place and the school year will start on time. The first day will be Sept. 8.
The school board vote was 4-0 with board member Jeff Russell abstaining from the discussion and the contract vote because his wife is a teacher and member of the Everett Education Association.
School board President Ed Petersen described the negotiations as an “extraordinarily collaborative process” and credited first-year Superintendent Gary Cohn.
“Gary reached out to employee association leaders, met with them on a regular basis in a newly formed Presidents’ Council and built trust and positive working relationships with association leaders and members,” Petersen said.
Wartelle said it was nice to reach an agreement, but said it was “not the result of some grand collaborative process.”
“Both parties asserted their priority issues and concerns,” he said.. “As always in our negotiations, both sides tried to reconcile the differences and fashion an acceptable resolution.”
Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446, stevick@heraldnet.com.
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