Smithtown district, teachers OK contract

After working without a contract for nearly two years, Smithtown school district teachers have agreed to give up part of their raises and pay more for health benefits in a new five-year deal.

The contract -- retroactive to July 1, 2010, when the previous pact expired -- calls for a 1 percent raise next year and 1.25 percent raises each of the following two years. There are no retroactive raises.

Teachers agreed to be paid less for two years for step increases, which are based on the number of years an employee has worked for the district. Those increases will be worth half their previous value next year and the following year.

Lower step increases and other concessions will save the district $500,000 next year and $750,000 the following year -- and will enable the district to avoid reducing programs such as full-day kindergarten, union and school officials said. Expenses tied to wages are expected to decline $2 million over the length of the contract.

"We believe that it is one of the more significant concessions on the Island," Smithtown Superintendent Edward Ehmann said of reduced step increases. " . . . We believe the teachers have given up a half a step for the rest of their careers."

The deal calls for all teachers to increase contributions to their health care premiums to 18.5 percent, up from 14.5 percent, by July 2014.

The Smithtown Teachers Association, which represents 900 teachers, teacher assistants, sign language interpreters and tutors, agreed to pay the district $250,000 from the union's benefits trust fund to compensate for wage increases in the final year of the contract. The union ratified the pact last week.

"I was happy that the teachers could come to an agreement with the district that will help to preserve programs for the next couple of years," union president Rich Forzano said. "I think it's a deal that makes sense for everybody: the teachers, the district, the children, everybody."

Teachers agreed to give up extra pay for educational credits in the 2014-15 school year. They will get an additional stipend after 30 years on the job.

The school board approved the contract in a 6-1 vote Tuesday. "I think we have a good deal here," board president Gladys Waldron said. " . . . It's basically preserving what we have right now."

Dissenting trustee Joseph Saggese had said negotiations should be postponed until new district superintendent Anthony Annunziato takes office in July. Annunziato could not be reached for comment.