SOUTH BURLINGTON SCHOOL DISTRICT

500 DORSET STREET Phone: 802-652-7250

SOUTH BURLINGTON, VT 05403 Fax: 802-652-7257
OFFICE: FREDERICK H. TUTTLE MIDDLE SCHOOL E-mail: sbsd@sbschools.net

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date: August 22, 2017

Contact: School Board Chairperson: Elizabeth Fitzgerald

Phone Number: 802.865-4554

Update on Teacher Contract Negotiations

The School Board and the South Burlington Educators Association (SBEA) negotiating team met for 10
hours on August 21, with a neutral mediator, in an effort to reach a settled contract prior to the start of
the school year. After having compromised on several outstanding issues during this process, the two
remaining items on which the parties could not reach agreement were salaries and healthcare benefits;
specifically employee and employer share of both premiums and out-of-pocket expenses paid by
employees.

Teachers get average salary increases of over $1,600 per year

The School Boards proposals for a two year contract are straightforward, offering average salary
increases of $1,679 to all teachers in the first year and $1,630 in the second year, inclusive of step
movement. Salary increases range from $1,500 to $2,000 in the first year, with junior teachers receiving
higher increases to make their salaries more competitive with peers in neighboring districts. Our senior
teachers would remain the most highly compensated in the state. These dollars would be applied to the
existing salary schedule and represent a 2.17% increase in wages in year 1 and 2.06% in year 2, resulting
in a total investment over two years of $808,964.

Teachers contributions to healthcare remain unchanged from 2017

Under the Boards health insurance proposal, teachers would pay the same amount in premium and
average out-of-pocket expenses in each of the next two school years compared to what they paid in
2017. This means that teachers would be able to transition to the benchmark Gold CDHP plan as of
January 1, 2018 without any increase in cost. The District would pay the balance of premium cost and
out-of-pocket expenses, paid through an employer-funded Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA).
The District has also offered to match employees contributions to a Health Savings Account (HSA)
should an employee choose this option rather than an HRA. The Boards proposal continues to offer
excellent and affordable health insurance to teachers while achieving cost savings for taxpayers and
encouraging informed plan selection and healthcare utilization by teachers.

Next Steps

The Board believes its proposal represents competitive and sustainable compensation and benefits for
our teachers, delivers savings to taxpayers, and if accepted by the SBEA would allow the school year to
start with a settled contract. The Board will meet in the near future to review its options to resolve this
negotiations impasse.