Board approves teacher raises

Deirdre Newman

NEWPORT-MESA -- As a first-year teacher, Jen Benhardus had to dig into

her own pocket to buy supplies for her classroom.

So she said she is thrilled that her paycheck will soon be padded with

an extra 6%, enabling her to further stock her classroom cupboards.

“I think it’s outstanding,” Benhardus said. “It’s about time.”

The Newport-Mesa Unified School District Board of Education on Tuesday

approved the tentative salary agreement between the teachers union and

the district. The agreement provides a 6% salary hike for this year,

retroactive to July, and a 3% increase for next year.

With budget cuts looming for the 2002-03 school year, the two-year

agreement is a win-win situation for everyone, trustee David Brooks said.

“It protects the employees as far as what’s going to happen in this

economy,” Brooks said. “At the same time, it affects the district because

we can plan on it. It’s not a big unknown.”

The tentative salary agreement was reached Nov. 16 and approved by the

teachers two weeks later. In addition to a pay hike, it also includes an

increase in the amount the district will cover for health benefits and

additional extra-duty pay for all the teachers who participate in

after-school activities, such as coaching.

The two-year agreement also created an unusual way of dealing with

catastrophic injury and illness -- teachers will bank their sick days in

a pool that other employees can draw upon.

Teachers from around the district voiced their enthusiasm for the

raise, which continues to elevate their salary closer to the county

average.

“It’s very respectable,” said Joe Norris, who teaches at Victoria

School. “It gives us a sense of dignity and makes us feel like the

district is behind us.”

The agreement will cost the district about $4 million for this school

year and about $2 million for the next year, said Lorri McCune, the

district’s assistant superintendent.

The board’s ultimate goal is to bring the teachers’ salaries up to the

75th percentile of the county, Brooks said.