Teachers to Get 4.2% Raise, 2% Bonus

Bolstering educators’ salaries a total of 6.2% for the school year, Conejo Valley school trustees Thursday approved a new contract for the district’s 830 teachers.

The United Assn. of Conejo Teachers union approved the contract Wednesday by a vote of 188 to 4.

Making up for a salary cut taken two years ago, the new, one-year contract includes a 4.2% raise and a 2% one-time bonus that is not included in the salary scale.

The raise alone will boost a novice teacher’s salary, now $29,551, to $30,792. At the other end of the salary range, educators with a master’s degree and at least 14 years’ experience in the Conejo Valley will see their salaries jump from $53,317 to $55,556. The bonus, based on the starting salaries, is tacked on after that.

In the tense financial mood of the 1994-95 school year, teachers reluctantly agreed to a 3% drop in salary and to a shortening of the school year--effectively a 4% cut. That cut was counterbalanced the following year, when the budget improved.

With this year’s hearty $82.1-million operating budget--bolstered by a cost-of-living increase from the state--trustees decided they could afford the $2.36-million price tag for the increases.

The new pact contains another new clause that heartens teachers. Counteracting another budget trim of two years ago, health benefits for college-age sons and daughters were restored.

Because the raise is retroactive to July 1, the Conejo Valley Unified School District’s 830 teachers can expect fatter paychecks at the end of this month.