Contract offers by the New Kensington-Arnold School District and its teachers union are about $1.1 million apart in salary and benefits costs, according to information the school board released Tuesday.

The last four-year agreement between the district and the New Kensington-Arnold Education Association was approved in August 2019, but it already has expired because the four-year pact was retroactive to 2017.

The latest contract talks began in December. The school board said its negotiators have met 14 times with their union counterparts since then, including the most recent session Aug. 18. No further talks are scheduled, according to the board.

Contacted for comment, association President Ashley Pujol said their negotiation team “is surprised that the district is choosing to bargain in public and not at the bargaining table.

“The association will continue to strive for a fair and equitable contract that preserves the educational environment,” she said.

Board President Tim Beckes said the board is open to meeting as soon as possible. He said the board wants to reach a fiscally responsible agreement that is fair to teachers, students and the community.

At the Aug. 18 session, the board said it gave the union a proposal for a five-year agreement that would increase the district’s salary and benefits costs by about $5.5 million. The board said a 3-mill property tax increase likely would be needed each year to pay for it.

Board member Robert Pallone described the board’s offer as “very fair.”

The district said its offer creates a new and more competitive starting salary and increases top salaries.

The board said its offer includes an overall pay increase of 3.3% per year over the five-year contract. Raises for teachers at higher steps on the salary schedule average 4.57%, according to the board.

The board said its offer would increase starting teacher salaries, which vary based on the applicant’s education level, by about $2,200 — to $48,973 for those with bachelor’s degrees, $51,973 for those with master’s degrees and $54,173 for those with doctorates.

The top teacher salaries would increase to $83,047 for those with bachelor’s degrees, $86,447 for those with master’s degrees and $88,647 for those with doctorates.

Monthly health insurance copays would increase under the board’s offer — with copays for individuals increasing from $65 to $125, and for family coverage from $125 to $250.

The board said it rejected a proposal from the teachers’ association that carries a roughly $6.6 million increase in salary and benefits costs over five years.

According to the district, the union offer included an average salary increase of 3.78% per year but did not include unfunded benefit increases. Including unfunded benefits, the board said the union proposal would increase the district’s costs by 4.26%.

The association included an increase in health insurance copays for family coverage, $165 per month, which is less than the $250 sought by the district. The union proposal keeps the copay for individuals at $65.

Beyond wages and benefits, the board’s proposed contract would give the board a chance to review grievances before they go to arbitration, allow the union to participate in the furlough process and give more pay to teachers assigned to slightly larger classes.

“The board has adjusted and delivered multiple counterproposals to the association in an attempt to get to an agreement,” the board said in a statement. “The association remains committed to (its) current proposal.”

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