The Board of Education approved new contracts for teachers and administrators following an executive session at Oxford High School during a special meeting Oct. 30.
The Valley Independent Sentinel was unable to obtain copies of the contract to verify the information from public officials. A request under the Freedom of Information Act will be filed.
Agreements between the board and the Oxford Education Association and Oxford Administrators Association show a zero percent wage increase in the first year of the contracts.
The two-year teachers contract calls for a 1 percent cost of living increase in the second year.
Administrators — with a three-year contract — will also have a zero percent wage increase in the first year. They’ll get a 2 percent general wage increase in the second year, and a 2.5 percent increase in the third year — along with an increase in insurance premiums.
Jerry Schwab, chairman of the education board’s “personnel and negotiations sub-committee,” said his group met with representatives from the education and administrators associations for approximately two months to agree on the contracts.
Schwab called the agreements a “win-win” situation for both the town and the unions.
“The representatives were very understanding of the current economic situation across the nation and in Oxford,” he said. “ This is a great contract for the town.”
Board member Debbie Sherman also said she was pleased with the outcome of the negotiations.
“I think it is fair to the district and the teachers who worked very well together,” she said.
Frank Samuelson, the principal at Oxford High School who represented administrators during negotiations, said there was give and take on both sides based on the current state of the economy.
Beverly Zarnowski, president of the Oxford Education Association, did not return numerous calls for comment.
Currently Board of Education Attorney Don Houston is preparing final drafts of the contract which, to date, have not been signed. Houston could not be reached at his office for comment.
