The John Stark Regional school district is hoping the second time’s the charm for its teacher contract.
The district has called a special deliberative session and public vote for a new three-year contract, which will cost taxpayers $329,248 over three years.
The contract proposal is about $53,000 less than one rejected by voters at the annual meeting in March.
If the new agreement doesn’t pass at the special election in June, teachers will go through the next school year without a new contract. The current contract expires in June, said SAU 24 spokeswoman Patti Osgood.
The biggest change in the new contract comes from a freezing of step amounts – incremental increases in pay for teachers – for the first year, although each full-time member will receive $1,000 in compensation beyond their 2016-17 salary. Teachers will receive a 2.11 percent step increase each of the next two years, a decrease from the rejected contract’s 3.63 percent. Overall, the contract will cost taxpayers $329,248 over three years, compared to the rejected contract’s projected cost of $382,393.
Other aspects of the contract remain unchanged, such as the requirement that teachers obtain a master’s degree by their 10th year of teaching, and an increase in the number of years to reach the top of the pay scale from 12 to 20 years.
The new contract would have a tax rate impact of $0.08 per $1,000 of assessed property value in Weare and Henniker, or $20 on a $250,000 home.
A deliberative session for the contract will be held at 7 p.m. on May 23 at John Stark Regional High School. Ballot voting will occur on June 20 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Henniker Community School and the Weare Middle School.
(Caitlin Andrews can be reached at 369-3309, candrews@cmonitor.com or on Twitter at @ActualCAndrews.)