BELFAST - Last week we outlined the broad strokes of the new Regional School Unit 20 teachers' contact, which was ratified by the school board on Tuesday after four years of negotiations.

The actual contract was not available at the time of the ratification. What was known then was that the teachers were in their third year with no contract — a period of time during which salaries were frozen at 2009-10 levels. According to representatives of both the district and the teachers' union, the major hurdle in the negotiations was the requirement of the 2008 consolidation to create a single salary scale.

The pay scales in both of the pre-consolidation districts (Belfast-based School Administrative District 34 and Searsport-based SAD 56) was based upon years of service, but the actual salaries were higher on the Belfast side. For teachers in their first year, the difference was negligible, but further up the respective scales, the gap widened.

The Belfast district's scale topped out after 13 years at a salary roughly 25-percent higher than the equivalent years of service in Searsport. Even at the top of Searsport's 20-step scale, Belfast's 13 year top rate was still higher. Contracts for the former districts each provided for additional longevity pay, but the rates again were higher in Belfast.

The disparity was greatest at the upper end of the scales. For example, a teacher with 15 years of service in Belfast made $53,201 ($51,601 plus $1,600 longevity pay) as compared with $44,324 in Searsport. The gap narrowed, however, as the years of service approached 20 or more.

The new contact splits the difference with a 16-step scale. As with the old contracts, one step is equivalent to a year of service. For the current school year 2012-13, teachers will be given a lump payment in lieu of a raise. The amount ranges from $500 to $2,200, based on experience. Superintendent Brian Carpenter said those payments would be made as soon as they can be processed by the district. 

The new salary scale takes effect in the coming school year, 2013-14. The rates at the lower end of the scale roughly correspond to what an SAD 34 teacher would have been making had the consolidation not occurred, based on year-to-year increases in the previous contract. The steps, however are more gradual than the expired SAD 34 contract, more closely approximating those of the former SAD 56.

Below are several side-by-side comparisons of salaries under the old and new contracts. In addition to years of service, teachers' contracts past and present have also taken education into account. For the sake of simplicity, however, the examples here assume the teacher has a bachelor's degree.

Starting salary

2009-10 SAD 34: $30,663

2009-10 SAD 56: $30,175

2013-14 RSU 20: $32,250

A teacher who started just before the expiration of the old contract in 2009-10 would enter the new contract with four years of experience and a salary of $36,972.

Five years of service

2009-10 SAD 34: $37,112

2009-10 SAD 56: $33,948

2013-14 RSU 20: $38,257

Adjusted RSU 20: $43,858 (Assumes a teacher had five years of experience at the expiration of the 2009-10 contract and therefore entered the 2013-14 contract with nine years of experience)

10 years of service

2009-10 SAD 34: $47,260

2009-10 SAD 56: $40,551

2013-14 RSU 20: $45,382

Adjusted RSU 20: $52,571 (Assumes a teacher had 10 years of experience at the expiration of the 2009-10 contract and therefore started the 2013-14 contract with 14 years of experience)

Other changes

Under the new contract, the district will pay 85 percent of health insurance premiums for the teacher and 80 percent for dependents. Teacher contributions for health insurance ranged from 10 to 25 percent in the SAD 34 and 56 contracts depending upon the date of hire and type of insurance chosen.

The new contract includes some changes to how the seniority structure in calculated with regard to layoffs. The general principle that more recently hired teachers are considered first for layoff, however, remains the same.

Stipends for athletic coaching and other extracurricular work was removed from the teachers' contact and will be negotiated in a separate agreement by the teachers' union and the school board.

Contact Ethan Andrews by e-mail at news@penbaypilot.com