By Elio Gugliotti, Editor
PROSPECT — The Region 16 Board of Education and the union that represents school administrators have reached terms on a new three-year contract.
The contract with the Region 16 School Administrators’ Association covers from July 1, 2021, through June 30, 2024. The school board, which oversees public schools in Beacon Falls and Prospect, unanimously approved the contract with little discussion at its Jan. 20 meeting.
Superintendent of Schools Michael Yamin said the region is fortunate to have the administrators it has working in the school district.
“They’re an unbelievable group of people,” he said.
Both sides agreed that negotiations went well.
“Overall, it was a smooth negotiations,” said Kurt Ogren, who is principal at Woodland Regional High School and president of the union, in a later interview.
The union represents 12 employees in the region, including school principals and assistant principals, director of special education/pupil services, director of curriculum, assistant director of special education/pupil services, and dean of students/athletic director at Woodland.
Administrators will receive 3% raises each year of the deal, according to the contract. Administrators will also advance a step on the salary structure each year, if they aren’t at the top level.
The region will also make annuity payments of $800 the first year, $900 the second and $1,000 the final year of the contract into an investment account for administrators.
Administrators have the option of a preferred provider organization plan or a high deductible health plan for health care. The latter includes a $2,500 deductible for an individual plan and a $5,000 deductible for a family plan. The board will contribute half of the deductible to a health savings account each year of the contract.
The region will pay 74.75% of the cost of the PPO plan and 81% of the cost of the high deductible plan in the 2021-22 fiscal year, according to the contract. The region now pays 75.25% and 81.5%, respectively, of the cost for the plans.
The region’s premium cost share goes down half a percentage point each year of the new contract to 73.75% for the PPO plan and 80% for the high deductible plan in the 2023-24 fiscal year.
Anthony DiLeone, director of finance and business operations for the region, said the cumulative financial net impact of the contract is an additional $155,139, assuming all staff levels stay the same.
“We were very pleased with the contract. We feel like we were definitely supported by the Board of Education and the superintendent,” said Ogren, who added the administrators are hard workers and feel they also have the community’s support.
