Wichita school district, teachers union reach tentative deal

The Wichita school district has reached a tentative contract agreement with its teachers union, possibly ending negotiations that lasted several months and required help from a federal mediator.

Officials with the district and United Teachers of Wichita announced terms of the tentative one-year contract Friday. Highlights include:

▪ One step on the salary schedule for years of experience.

▪ Adjustment on the salary schedule based on additional education, known as tracks.

▪ A one-time bonus in November that is either $500 or an amount equal to a teacher’s longevity payment. (Longevity — the annual raises teachers are supposed to receive beginning in their 15th year — will remain frozen).

▪ An additional $100-per-employee district contribution to the health plan reserve, from $590 to $690 per month.

▪ A base health insurance plan with no premium and two “buy up” plans with monthly premiums but lower deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums. Yearly deductibles on the base plan range from $4,500 for an individual in-network to $18,000 for a family out-of-network.

District officials said the price tag of the agreement is about $11 million — an amount that already has been factored into the district’s $662 million budget.

The salary increases and bonuses will come from cost savings on utilities and fuel due to last year’s mild winter and additional funding from a school finance fix, said spokeswoman Susan Arensman.

Teachers will vote on the tentative agreement beginning Oct. 17. Deadline for voting is 4 p.m. Oct. 20. If teachers ratify the contract, the school board will vote on final approval.

“Teachers change lives through their work in our classrooms every day,” Wichita superintendent John Allison said in a statement posted on the district’s website.

“They are our community’s heroes, and deserved to be compensated as such. We will continue to fight for the resources that will allow us to do just that.”

Steve Wentz, president of UTW, which represents about 4,100 teachers and other certified employees, said his group will continue to lobby for better working conditions for teachers.

“While UTW is glad to be able to move forward, it is obvious there remains much work to be done to bridge the gap between the perceptions that district leadership has of those standing in front of students, and the realities for those who are actually there,” Wentz said in a statement e-mailed to teachers Friday.

“We believe this agreement is the best that can be obtained at this point,” he said.

“However, the disconnect between district leadership and teachers will continue to be an obstacle to growth and improvement in the education of (USD) 259 students unless all parties are willing to have open, honest discussions and are serious about resolving problems.”

The tentative agreement came two days after both sides met in a closed-door session, seeking help from a federal mediator after negotiations hit an impasse earlier this year. In the weeks leading up to Thursday’s agreement, teachers had rallied outside school board meetings in support of better working conditions and pay.

According to Wentz’s e-mail to teachers, the tentative agreement includes a memorandum of understanding that a teacher workload committee, which began work this summer, will make recommendations “to provide relief for some of the overwhelming workload for teachers and building administrators.”

The proposed contract would allow teachers to attend their own children’s parent-teacher conferences and special-education meetings in Wichita or surrounding school districts.

It also proposes new task forces on issues related to special education and pre-kindergarten.

Under the proposed contract the starting salary — not including benefits — for Wichita teachers would remain $39,146.

Earlier this year, the district approved a contract with the Service Employees International Union that included a one-time, 1 percent lump sum payment, one step on the salary schedule and other features.

District administration, which includes principals and assistant principals, agreed to the same terms.

Wichita school board president Sheril Logan said battles over state education funding limited what the district could offer its teachers.

“We have fantastic teachers and we wish we could give them more, but the current budget situation doesn’t allow that,” Logan said in a statement.

This story was originally published October 7, 2016 at 11:18 AM with the headline "Wichita school district, teachers union reach tentative deal."