Uintah County teachers have reached a tentative agreement with the school board, forestalling a threatened strike.
Mediators, board members and representatives of the Uintah Teachers Association met in executive session for hours late Tuesday in an attempt to find common ground. The tentative agreement was announced by union President Gil Limb about 1 a.m. Wednesday.Although the board did not meet the teachers' request for an additional 2 percent in their proposed 4 percent basic salary raise, they did settle on a compromise - an additional 1 percent increase in steps, which would provide more money for teachers who have been in the district longer. In most cases the 1 percent boost in steps represents an additional $190. The board also threw in two paid days, Aug. 19 and May 31, which are "off contract" days when teachers aren't required to come to school.
The total package increase is 8.32 percent. Educators had been holding out for at least 6 percent more in base salaries to bring them to the state average. A first-year Uintah teacher makes $19,006 plus benefits. The statewide average is $l9,462.
The 4 percent base raise is the largest Uintah teachers have received since the 1990-91 school year when salaries were boosted by 12.58 percent.
Teachers had hoped for bigger raises than proposed because they thought the district had $262,OOO left over from last year's budget.
However, a study of available district revenue by Jay M. Jeffery, director of finance for the Utah State Office of Education, predicted that the district would have a deficit by 1995 if current spending continues.
He told district patrons and the board that he couldn't answer whether teachers ought to be given a raise or not, but was just concerned with expenditures.
"The trend to spend more revenue than is generated each year is a dangerous one that can only lead to financial difficulty and an ultimate budget deficit, which is illegal in Utah. To give raises out of one-time money is unwise," he said.
At last night's school board meeting, many citizens insisted they favor the leeway to raise taxes for teacher salaries, but lacked trust in the board to ensure it was spent properly. Leeway elections have failed in the past.
The tentative settlement in Uintah leaves only 10 of Utah's 40 districts without contracts for the upcoming school year. Granite, the largest, is continuing to negotiate. Cache has had a difficult negotiation year and still is hung up on insurance issues, said Jim Eldredge of the Utah Education Association. About 30 percent of the state's teachers still do not have contracts for the 1994-95 year.