The annual school district vote on the budget and other warrant articles and the election of school officers is Tuesday, March 12 from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Newport Opera House
NEWPORT — Teachers are hoping residents agree that the proposed three-year teachers’ contract on this year’s school district warrant is as much about improving the quality of education in the district as it is about raising pay to a more competitive level.
Lisa Ferrigno, co-president of the Newport Teachers Association, said approval of new contract can mean improved stability of the educational environment for students because more teachers will chose to remain with the district
Last year, when voters defeated a proposed contract, 27 teachers left the district, and another five left at the beginning of the school year.
“We still have open positions and have to use long-term substitutes,” Ferrigno said.
She said a popular teacher who was head of the student government and involved in several student-related activities left last year.
“Out students lost a teacher they had really strong ties with,” Ferrigno said. “That was a huge loss for students. The reality is many of them know teachers don’t stay but we need them to, because it is so important to build those relationships.”
At Richards Elementary School, every grade has a new teacher this year except for the first grade, Ferrigno said.
“Now we have to build those relationships again,” she said.
The contract calls for an increase in the base pay of 1 percent or about $370 per teacher for each of the three years.
Teachers who are behind in their steps — annual increases for additional years of service — would make up half of them in the first year. As an example, Ferrigno, a first-grade teacher at Richards, said she is six steps behind and would receive pay for three of those steps in the first year of the contract and the rest in the second year. A step equals about $1,200, Ferrigno said.
Two years ago, every teacher was given a step increase, but last year a new contract was rejected. Ferrigno said residents have voted down pay increases for teachers four of the last six years, putting the average pay further behind nearby districts.
“We are lower than every town around us by at least 25 percent,” she said.
Under the proposed contract, teachers agreed to a less expensive health insurance plan but one that carries higher co-pays and out-of-pocket expenses. “We did that to save the district money,” Ferrigno said.
The contract would add an estimated 80 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation to the tax rate, which is about $120 on a property assessed at $150,000.
Prospects for approval of the contract could be hurt by the tax impact of the proposed budget. The budget represents an increase of 5 percent or about $900,000, and if approved, would add $3.84 cents to the school tax rate.
The budget includes $118,000 for a one-year contract for support staff, which are paraprofessionals and secretaries, and $115,000 for a business administrator.
The default budget is $19.16 million, with an estimated tax rate impact of $4.30.
School board member Virginia Irwin said lower non-tax revenues and the sharp drop in fund balance to offset the tax rate are big factors in the tax increase projected for the coming fiscal year. Tuition revenue is down close to $50,000, state aid in the form of a stablization grant is decreasing $194,000 and the drop in the amount that will come from the fund balance is more than $500,000. On the expense side, special education and special education transportation are increasing more than $500,000, and spending on technology is up 62 percent to nearly $400,000.
The school board trimmed expenses in a number of areas including, career technical education, guidance and curriculum instruction assessement.
Also on the warrant are the following appropriation requests: $45,000 for a feasibility study and design work on renovations to the technical center; $78,000 to repair a fire alarm panel at the technical center; and $200,000 to expand special education services for autistic and “similarily identified students” in the district.
Irwin said the students in the program now are moving into higher grades, and this appropriation would allow them to continue to receive services. If all appropriations pass as requested, the projected tax rate impact is $5.50 per $1,000 of assessed valuation and would add $825 in taxes to a property assessed at $150,000.
There are no contested races for school board seats.
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com
