Provo District teachers ratify new contract

PROVO — Teachers in the Provo School District have ratified a contract for the school year that will result in smaller paychecks for many employees.

When voting ended at 5 p.m. Thursday, 311 teachers voted in favor of the contract; 89 voted against it. There are about 550 members of the Provo Education Association.

"I still may have a few votes coming in" from schools that had not tallied the numbers when the polls closed, said Lynda Westover, president of the PEA on Friday afternoon.

The contract for the 2005-06 school year provides a 0.5 percent cost-of-living pay raise for teachers. Teachers, who have never in the past paid medical insurance premiums, will begin paying 5 percent of the premium cost.

The pay raises will not be large enough to offset the medical insurance premium participation. That means many teachers will take home less money than last year.

There are exceptions, however.

Teachers scheduled to receive additional "steps and lanes" pay raises that reward milestones such as additional education or years of service may take home more money than last year despite the new health-insurance cost, Westover said.

Also in next year's contract is a clause that the Provo Board of Education will "consider" giving a one-time bonus to teachers from the proceeds of the sale of Joaquin Elementary, which closed at the end of last year and was put on the market in July.

Early retirement benefits, according to the newly ratified contract, will be not be offered to anyone hired after Aug. 31, 2005.

The contract also requires the school board and PEA to talk about allowing future contracts be handled as collective bargaining agreements instead of "board policy."

Under board policy, the school board can change any provisions in the contract it deems necessary. Collective bargaining agreements provide more legal protections for employees because the school board would have to negotiate with the teacher and certified employee unions if it wanted to make changes to contracts after ratification.

"I think the employees feel a little more secure (with collective bargaining). The board can't arbitrarily change things," said Linda Peterson, executive director of Bonneville UniServ, a Utah County arm of the Utah Education Association.