West Babylon, Deer Park reach teacher deals

West Babylon and Deer Park school districts have reached agreements with teachers' unions for concessions that officials say will save money and jobs.

West Babylon's district reached agreements with its teachers', paraprofessionals', and head custodians' unions.

The West Babylon Teachers Association had a year left on a four-year contract and was due a 2.3 percent raise for 2012-2013, said Superintendent Anthony Cacciola.

But teachers proposed an extension to the contract, splitting the raise into .75 percent increases for each of the next three years. Teachers will still get step increases, he said. The savings for the district amounts to about $600,000. "It really helped us out a lot," Cacciola said.

"We wanted to be part of the solution," said Patt Squicciarini, president of the union, of last month's agreement.

The paraprofessionals union agreed to no increases this year and a soft freeze next year, meaning the salary schedule stays the same but steps are given. The head custodians agreed to the same conditions and also agreed to take comp time instead of overtime for Saturdays when they open buildings for sports events, Cacciola said. Those two concessions will save the district another $40,000, he said.

The district also expects savings from a retirement incentive that doubles the $25 to $55 per day paid for unused sick time. Cacciola said 18 teachers are eligible to retire.

Concessions by the three unions allowed the district to avoid program cuts and stay under the state property tax cap, which was 3.66 percent with exemptions, Cacciola said.

Deer Park's district reached an agreement with its teachers union to eliminate a 3 percent raise that had been deferred from the previous year. The agreement will save the district $1.2 million, officials said. Superintendent Eva Demyen said in an email that the concession was made "to not layoff or reduce the position of approximately 23 people." Teachers will still receive step increases.

A retirement incentive taken by 13 teachers will save another $1.5 million, officials said. As part of the agreement, 15 hours of professional development teachers were contracted to complete "will be facilitated during the teacher's day around their classroom schedule," officials said in a statement.

Deer Park Teachers' Association president Bruce Sander did not return calls for comment.