MUKILTEO — Mukilteo teachers and educational specialists have approved a new three-year contract, clearing the way for classes to begin for the district’s 15,000 students as scheduled Sept. 7.
The contract was approved by 74 percent of Mukilteo Education Association members who attended a ratification meeting Wednesday afternoon at Kamiak High School.
“We’re happy to have this done,” school district spokesman Andy Muntz said. “Now we’re focused on getting ready to get school started next week.”
The contract calls for a 3 percent raise for teachers and other certificated staff during the 2016-17 and 2017-18 school years and a 2 percent raise during the contract’s final year, said Dana Wiebe, president of the Mukilteo Education Association.
For the upcoming school year, the annual salary for a starting teacher with a bachelor’s degree will be $49,964. The top salary for an experienced teacher with a master’s degree is $96,394, Wiebe said.
Other parts of the contract call for new services for some schools. For example, Explorer and Voyager, two middle schools in the eastern part of the district, will get an additional counselor to help students who are living in poverty, who may be homeless or whose parents may be incarcerated, she said. Now the schools will each have three full-time counselors.
Olympic View and Harbour Pointe middle schools in the western part of the district will get a support advocate to help students with social and emotional issues, she said.
A school resource officer will be added at Kamiak High School.
New teachers will get more help from mentors and substitute teachers will get a boost in pay.
Teachers will have more of a say in issues that affect both individual schools and the district as a whole, such as discipline plans, school safety, budgets and academic achievement, Wiebe said.
The district also has pledged to upgrade its current online grade book to improve accuracy and make it easier to use, she said.
Representatives for the teachers union and the school district met 16 times before coming to an agreement. The final 17-hour session started Tuesday and ended just after 3 a.m. Wednesday.
More details on the contract will be available when it goes to the school board for what is expected to be final approval. That could happen at its next scheduled meeting on Sept. 12, Muntz said.
The Mukilteo Education Association represents 950 teachers and other staff, including nurses, speech therapists, and physical therapists.
Details of the calendar for the 2016-17 school year includes a winter break from Dec. 19 through Jan. 2; a mid-winter break Feb. 20 to 24; and spring break April 10 to 14. The last day of school will be June 21, Muntz said.
Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486; salyer@heraldnet.com.
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