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2-year contract for Batavia teachers approved

Pay for Batavia schoolteachers will increase 1.6 percent this school year and 2.2 percent the next, as the result of a new two-year contract.

The school district announced Monday night that the Batavia Education Association and the school board had reached the agreement, which is retroactive to July 1.

The board approved the contract Monday night. It did not say when the union ratified it.

According to the district, on average, individual educators will see an increase of approximately 2.5 percent each year.

The Batavia Education Association and the board also agreed this is the last time the current salary schedule will be used. A joint committee will discuss a replacement for the next contract. Both agreed not to use the current step-and-lane schedule as a basis; that there shall be no loss of pay for initial placement; that consideration will be given for prior teaching experience and educational attainment; and that the amount of money spent on salaries in the 2018-19 school year will be the starting point for the new model.

It adds a mentoring program for new teachers. The New Educator Induction Program is to take place before the beginning of the regular 182-day contractual year.

It also incudes a retirement incentive for educators who are at least age 55 and agree to retire at the end of the 2017-18 school year. The district will increase the educators Teacher Retirement System creditable earnings by 5 percent over that person's prior year creditable earnings, in lieu of any other raise, step or other increase to which they were entitled. The educator has to notify the district by Oct. 1 of their intent to retire.

Under the new contract, starting pay for a teacher with a bachelor's degree and no experience is set at $41,923. The top pay on the schedule is $109,617, for a person with 23 years of experience and a doctorate.

The Batavia school district had the equivalent of 382 full-time certified teachers, librarians, social workers and psychiatrists, according to its 2015-16 state report card.

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