Schools : Education news : District to Vote on Teachers Pact

After nearly a year of tense negotiations that required an outside mediator, the Westminster School District and its teachers union appear close to finalizing a contract for the current school year.

The pact, which calls for a 2.73% salary increase and a special early retirement incentive, has been ratified by the Westminster Teacher’s Assn. and will go to the Board of Education for approval on Thursday.

Negotiations had been underway since last spring, when a previous three-year contract expired. The teachers have been without a contract since then, association President Carolyn Anderson said.

The talks were stalled, in part, because district officials wanted to increase the time students spend in the classroom by a few minutes each day, which the teachers felt would unfairly cut into their preparation time, Anderson said.