.jpg)
After months of negotiations, the Ely School District and the union representing Ely teachers have come together on a new two-year contract.
The deal, which covers the current 2023-24 school year as well as 2024-25, was reached earlier this spring and approved Monday by school board members.
The vote was 4-0, with member Rochelle Sjoberg absent and Tom Omerza abstaining. Omerza’s spouse is part of the teachers’ bargaining unit.
Highlights of the deal include pay raises of three and 3.25 percent on the teachers’ salary scale.
The salary range this year goes from $47,767 for a firstyear instructor to $76,776 for those at the top of the scale, including a master’s degree The scale jumps in 202425 to $49,320 to $81,206.
Longevity pay ranges from $477 to $1,972 for experience ranging from 10-to-25 years, and because of the district’s participation in the Q-Comp alternative compensation program, teachers in Ely can receive about $3,000 in additional pay each year if goals are met.
Benefits in the contract include single or family health insurance for teachers employed at a 0.7 FTE level or higher, as well as $2,000 annual payments by the district into a health savings account.
The district provides up to $11,000 per year for health insurance premium payments for single teachers, with a $21,000 premium cap for family coverage.
The insurance cap was at $10,000 and $20,000, respectively in the contract that expired at the end of the 2022-23 school year.
A retirement benefit includes the ability to receive up to 100 days of unused sick leave as severance pay.
The contract covers 180 work days per school year.
