Apr. 2—ROCHESTER — Teachers and administrators have found common ground for the next two years as both sides recently approved a collective bargaining agreement, solidifying details like salaries and work conditions within Rochester Public Schools.
The Rochester School Board approved the overall components of the agreement March 1. Both sides, however, have been fine tuning the language, and the final draft has not yet been posted to the union's website.
The district and the union approved the agreement against the backdrop of a deficit in the school district's budget, requiring more than $20 million to be cut.
"It's a contract that, of course, adds to our larger costs," Rochester Public Schools Superintendent Kent Pekel said. "That said, we have very talented teachers and other educators in Rochester and they deserve to be compensated fairly. I think we ended in a solid place."
Per the agreement, salaries will increase by 2% for the 2021-22 year, and by 1.5% in 2022-23. Steps and lanes also have been built into the agreement, allowing staff to receive higher pay for educational and career advancements. According to documentation provided by the district, "The total two-year increase for salary and benefits will be 6.7%."
Those increases are not enough to offset the rise in inflation, which was 7.9% in 2022, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
According to Rochester Education Association President Dan Kuhlman, the teacher's union approved the new agreement by a margin of 60 to 40.
Aside from finances, the new agreement provides several other changes to teachers' work lives. For one, the district has increased the number of paternity leave days teachers can have from five to 10.
"Families are changing. It was a big win for us," Kuhlman said. "As we keep looking at what the needs of our families are, I think it's going to be an important piece because you can give all the salary in the world but if you have terrible working conditions, people aren't going to come here."
The district also will create a new mentorship program for new teachers. And teachers now have up to two days per year to complete due process requirements, which refers to all the paperwork that is involved with special education.
Even though both sides signed off on the agreement, Kuhlman said Rochester's educators were well aware of the discrepancy between the cost of living and the smaller changes to their paychecks.
"Let's face it, teachers are concerned with the cost of living," Kuhlman said.