West Aurora teachers have new contract

West Aurora schoolteachers have a new two-year contract with District 129, with a salary schedule that is almost unchanged from the previous contract.

It does change the way the district handles exceeding the maximum class sizes in elementary schools, to give teachers more of a voice in the process.

The board approved the contract 4-0 Monday. Trustees Richard Kerns and Christopher Sparks abstained from the vote because their wives are district employees. Trustee Ira Lathan was absent.

Tony Martinez, the district's communications coordinator, said the lack of an increase reflected the times in which the contract was negotiated, in that the state did not have a new funding formula for schools.

The contract sets maximum class sizes, based on grade levels and other factors. Under the old contract, limits for general education elementary classes ranged from 25 in kindergarten to 30 for fifth grade; the new levels are 24 to 29. The old contract specified an aide was to be added to the class if the maximum was exceeded, but in practice, the district offered teachers an aide or a stipend, said Angie Smith, the district's assistant superintendent of operations.

The new contract formalizes the choice. The stipend is up to $2,000 for the first extra student, and an additional $2,500 for the second extra student. The stipend would be paid at the end of the school year, and prorated for the number of days the class had the extra children.

The contract covers about 860 teachers, librarians, school psychologists and other certified personnel.

According to the new salary schedule, a beginning teacher with a bachelor's degree would make $42,802 a year, the same as under the old contract. A teacher with 24 years of experience who has a master's degree plus 45 additional hours of graduate education would make $110,314, compared to $110,800 in the old schedule.