After the collective bargaining agreement between the Ithaca Teachers Association (ITA) and ICSD was approved by 74 percent of voters on March 2, the Board of Education (BoE) voted to ratify the new contract at its March 8 meeting.
The new contract will cover the 2015–16 school year. Details of the proposed contract include:
- 1.5 percent increases to teacher base salaries, retroactive to July 1, 2015;
- An additional $600 added to teacher base salaries for all teachers, retroactive to July 1, 2015;
- An additional 0.7 percent increase to teacher base salaries, effective June 30, 2016;
- An increase in out-of-pocket maximums to employees’ current Classic Blue Cross Blue Shield health plan—$50 increase for individual plans, which are currently $100; and $150 increase for family plans, which are currently $300;
- No change in co-pay cost for generic medication, which remains $5 under the prescription drug plan; and an increase of $10 in co-pay cost for brand name medication, which is currently $10;
- Removal of sabbatical leaves from the contract.
After the ICSD negotiating team works with the ITA and the Public Employment Relations Board facilitator, the new agreement will be in place for the upcoming school year by June 30, 2016, Superintendent Luvelle Brown said in a news release.