The John Stark Regional High School teachers’ contract is just too expensive with the expected increases in the district’s budget, according to the Weare finance committee.
Matt Whitlock, chairman of the committee, said during the regional school’s deliberative session Thursday night that the committee unanimously voted against the contract. While the committee approves of the details of the contract, Whitlock said it’s not feasible given the $350,000 increase from the proposed $13.5 million operating budget – of which the committee also does not approve – and the current $13.1 million budget.
“The Finance Committee believes the taxpayers cannot reasonably be expected to bear the additional costs associated with this contract in a year of such large school tax increases,” he said.
The three-year contract includes reductions in step amounts – incremental increases in pay for the teachers – from 3.63 percent to 2.11 percent. The contract also requires teachers to obtain a master’s degree by their 10th year of teaching, and bumps the number of years to reach the top of the pay scale from 12 to 20 years. Step-increase incentives for professional development come in years 5, 10 and 15.
Zach Lawson, head of the John Stark school board, defended the contract, saying it was the beginning of a decadelong effort to “bend the curve” from salary and benefit increase. About three-fourths of the district’s expenses are tied up in those two items, and the district is facing steep mandatory budget increases, such as $186,946 in health insurance and $110,748 in retirement.
Brian Naze of Weare cautioned against a contract that would reward teachers too little, causing them to leave the district.
“It’s all about the teachers. I’d rather have a great group of teachers and an okay principal, or a terrible superintendent, than the other way around,” he said. “If you don’t invest in your teachers, that’s going to create an impact.”
The proposed budget is 0.65 percent higher than the default budget, which Whitlock said would mean a 4.9 percent increase in the tax rate regardless of how taxpayers vote. He said the committee objects to the default budget because the school board did not remove one-time expenditures found in this year’s budget.
The budget would have different impacts if approved, depending on the town: in Weare, the proposed budget and warrant article would mean a 45-cent increase per $1,000 of assessed property value, for a total school tax rate of $6.73. For a home worth $250,000, that’s an additional $112.50 on the tax bill. The default budget and warrant article would mean a 52-cent increase on the tax rate, or an additional $130 on the tax bill for that same home.
In Henniker, the proposed budget and warrant article would mean a 55-cent increase, for a school tax rate of $6.83. For a $250,000 home, that’s an additional $137.50. That same home would see a $155 increase in its tax bill if the default budget and warrant article were approved.
(Caitlin Andrews can be reached at 369-3309, candrews@cmonitor.com or on Twitter at @ActualCAndrews.)