The Quakertown Community School Board and its teachers union have ratified a five-year contract that takes effect July 1.
The Quakertown Community Education Association represents 375 union members — teachers, psychologists, guidance counselors, nurses, nurse assistants, part-time employees and long-term substitutes.
A statement issued Tuesday — two weeks after the union approved the deal, and 13 days after the school board did likewise — did not reveal annual salary increase percentages or disclose the increase percentages over the life of the contract.
A district spokesman on Tuesday declined to break down the salary increases by year, citing “current confidentiality requirements.” The current three-year contract, which expires at the end of the month, called for increases of 1.5%, 1% and 1.5%, respectively.
The statement, which came from the district but also included comments from the union president, did boast that the starting salary for QCSD teachers will increase to $60,054 by the final year of the contract. Again citing confidentiality, the spokesman declined to provide the starting salary for the 2023-24 school year, but the expiring contract lists it at $49,781.
“In this climate of teacher shortages, QCEA’s key priority was having a competitive starting salary,” the statement quoted union president Ryan Wieand as saying. “We achieved that with this agreement and the students will benefit from the district’s ability to attract and retain high-quality employees.”
The statement reported that the deal includes increased contributions from teachers toward prescription drug plan coverage. The agreement reduces the overall number of teacher workdays but increases the number of professional development days.
Quakertown Community School Board President Todd Hippauf was quoted in the statement as characterizing the deal as a winner for all involved.
“It is a win for the teachers as it gives them a very competitive salary at the top end of the scale,” he said. “It is a win for the board because it helps us to control costs and budget effectively for the next five years. Finally, it is a win for the community, which values our teachers and their ability to educate our children to become positive leaders in our community.”
In reaching the agreement, both the union and district votes came down to acceptance of a neutral third party’s fact-finding report.
The union vote tally was unavailable Tuesday. The board accepted the report that ultimately became the contract on May 29 in a 7-1 vote, with board member Glenn Iosue in opposition.
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