Sterling Public Schools OK four-year deal with teachers union

STERLING — Without discussion and on a 5-0 vote, Sterling Public Schools approved a collective bargaining agreement with its teachers union on Wednesday.

The board also voted in its regular April meeting on a one-time payment to cover any distress or financial difficulties teachers experienced while working through the pandemic.

Earlier in the meeting, Sterling Education Association co-president Tyler Gaumer addressed the board and expressed his gratitude for the consistent communication the teachers have had with the administration, especially during the ups and downs as all sides worked through the COVID-19 pandemic.

“There is no playbook for what we’ve done the last couple years,” he said near the end of his remarks. “We had to be agile.”

He also thanked several groups within the school. He announced he was ending his term as the union’s top officer.

Darwin Nettleton is the union’s other co-president.

The union had already ratified the tentative agreement prior to its presentation to the board.

Under the terms of the new deal, which lasts through fiscal year 2026, teachers will receive annual salary increases of 5% in the first two years and 4% in the final two years.

The supplemental base salary is at $41,000 and the hourly rate increased to $34.

In another vote, the board agreed to a memorandum of understanding between the district and the union for a one-time payment to cover any negative financial or social-emotional effects. Only teachers who are returning in 2022-23 are eligible for the payment; retirees and those who resigned are not.

A majority of union members will receive a full 3% salary increase in June 2022.

However, the district can incur a penalty from the Teacher Retirement system if a member’s salary increase exceeds 6% in their last four years of service. Because of this cap, the memorandum details how some teachers will receive 1% increases over each of the next three years and others will receive only a portion of that amount. Members in a retirement contract are among those not eligible.