Mediation sessions between the Waterford Graded School District in Wisconsin and the Waterford Elementary Education Associations have been a success.  Last Monday, representatives from the two parties agreed upon the terms of a retroactive 2011-2012 contract.  In the wake of the agreement reached, School district Board member Paul Beyerl stated, “Just to be clear, we’re finally putting to rest the contract, not for this year, not for next year, but for last year.” 

The dispute began when the district sought to only increase starting salaries for entry-level teachers.  However, the teacher’s union wanted the salary increases to be given across the board to all teachers.  According to the district’s Administrator, Chris Joch, the district aimed to increase starting salaries with the sole intent of attracting more quality teachers to an area that has been ranked in the bottom third of area schools for starting pay.  

Since starting salaries for new teachers to the district begin at $34,549, and subsequent years give teachers a “substantial bump” in pay following earlier negotiations between the union and the district, the district board felt that focusing the increased budget to fund entry-level pay at $38,000 would be a better move for the district.  However, the teacher’s union disagreed.

Mediation to resolve the issue was then scheduled, resulting in several small steps of concessions made by the school board.   These concessions were not voted in by the union, resulting in an impasse in negotiations.  The union officials requested additional mediation sessions, which resulted in an agreement for raising the starting pay of new teachers to $36,500 and adding $250, one-time stipend to other teachers’ salaries.