Irvington Schools, Teachers See Contract Agreement

IRVINGTON, N.Y. – The Irvington Free Union School District and the local teachers' association announced Friday that a contract agreement had been reached after three years of bargaining.

The new contract will take effect retroactively from July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2016. School board members will officially approve the contract during a special meeting held at 7 a.m. on Monday in the district office.

Officials from the school board and teachers' association both praised the contract negotiation process, saying the new contract provides a fair and equitable deal for teachers and taxpayers alike while maintaining a superior education experience.

“We believe this is an outstanding contract for the District and for our teachers,” school board member Robert Grados said. “We would like to publicly thank James Groven, Corinne Daniels and the other members of the IFA negotiation team for their hard work and commitment to hash out an agreement that recognizes the financial challenges that the District is facing now and in the future. The board is thrilled to have this completed.”

Irvington Teachers' Association President James Groven agreed.

“It was a pleasure to negotiate with a board that values teachers and education,” he said. “I'd also like to thank our membership for their overwhelming support during this protracted process.”

The new contract stipulates a zero percent increase in salary between 2009-10 and 2012-13. A one-time payment of $1,500 will be given to those teachers in the top step of the salary schedule in 2011-12. All staff members will receive a one-time payment of $2,750 and an increment “freeze” for the entire 2012-13 year.

Teachers will receive a 1.75 percent increase in salary each year after that, with payments of increment delayed until February 1 for academic years 2013-14 and 2014-15.

The new contract also adds two half-steps to the salary schedule, which will increase the time it takes for teachers to reach the top step.

Under the new agreement, teacher contributions to health insurance will increase from 10 to 15 percent over the lifetime of the contract. Health insurance buyouts will decrease from 50 percent of the savings to 40 percent over the lifetime of the contract.

The contract also revises the approval process for the teachers' salary schedule when it comes to educational attainment and limits the number of times a teacher can move up in educational attainment from two times a year to one time a year.

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