Quaker Valley School Board, teachers union approve new 4-year deal

Quaker Valley School District officials have inked a new four-year deal with the teachers’ union.

The prior four-year deal with the 154-member Quaker Valley Education Association expired June 30.

School board members unanimously voted Jan. 22 to approve a contract retroactive to July 1. It expires June 30, 2027.

Union members voted on the contract shortly before the school board meeting.

Association president Jeffrey Sebastian said the average salary increases in the first two years are a little more than 4%, while raises in the last two years are slightly below 4%.

Sebastian said the salary increases are also fairly consistent with comparable school districts.

“Our negotiation team felt that the deal was fair enough to warrant a vote by our general membership, but opinions varied among the union members as you might guess,” Sebastian said. “In the end, it passed with a majority vote, and QVEA is happy to continue offering high-quality educational experiences and services to our students and QV community without disruption.”

There are no changes to the amount of required instructional days, 183, and no changes in teacher planning time, about 60 minutes each day. The union conceded giving more for healthcare coverage.

“As healthcare costs continue to increase each year, we agreed to increase both our contribution and our cap,” Sebastian said. “Our contribution rates are on par with other school districts in Allegheny County.”

Kati Doebler, board member and personnel committee chair, made the motion to approve the contract after talking about the extensive effort to make it possible.

“I know this has been something that’s been highly anticipated,” she said. “It’s been watched. It’s been waited for by all members of the community. It seems at this point everyone has been anxiously awaiting this arrival, and I am thrilled that we are here at this point.”

She commended both the district and union negotiation teams and others involved in the process, as well as the teachers for their services to students.

“I think every single page of this contract was touched, edited and reviewed,” Doebler said. “That hadn’t happened in a long time, and it was important that we do it. … Every single teacher here is impacting every single student and therefore our entire community at large. I’m very glad that we’re here.”

Superintendent Tammy Andreyko echoed Doebler’s comments and hope for the future.

“This is a chance for us to have conversations about the past, but then of course look forward to what we do well and what we can even do better for our students and the entire community,” Andreyko said. “Thank you to the board for your support as we went through as administration and as a negotiations team to come to terms on what we think is a very strong contract for our teachers.”