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Mt. Lebanon teachers and school officials have had a contract deal since September, but don't try to get a peek at the pact.
School and union officials still are working out contract language regarding pay raises for extra duties, such as coaching or running clubs, union President Mark McCloskey said. Because those details are yet to be ironed out, there's no printed contract available for public review.
"As far as the money is concerned, it's been ratified, and it's set in stone," McCloskey said. "But there's no urgency on our part to get this into our members' hands, because it doesn't go into effect until July 1, 2005. We'd rather have a completed document before we send it out."
The five-year extension approved by teachers Aug. 31 and ratified by the school board two days later calls for annual pay raises of at least 2.5 percent and for teachers to help pay for their health insurance. The deal also includes 3.5 percent raises in pay for extra duties, McCloskey said. The teachers' previous contract expired June 30, 2005. District spokeswoman Cissy Bowman said final edits to the contract likely will be completed within a month.
Resident Bill Lewis questioned why the district initially made such a fuss about getting an "early bird" contract in place. "I'm really perplexed by the long delay," he said.
The board initially cited the illness of human resources director William Addy for the holdup, said Lewis, who regularly attends school board meetings. Addy, who had surgery in October, has since returned to work, officials said.
The school board has been under fire in recent weeks over its handling of former Superintendent Margery Sable's separation agreement. Sable will be paid $420,000 in salary and $5,000 for legal fees and will receive full health benefits to age 65. The board has said only that it had differences with Sable about how to run the district.
"This board has repeatedly failed to be open and honest with the public, so people don't trust anything they say anymore," Lewis said. "It's a public relations nightmare, and they're not acknowledging it or doing anything to fix it."
By the end of the contract, teachers will pay 6.5 percent of their health insurance costs. The deal calls for a 3.5 percent increase in compensation for extra duties.
The Mt. Lebanon Education Association represents 413 teachers in the district's 10 schools.
The average teachers salary in Mt. Lebanon is $59,000 a year, compared with the state average of $52,813.
