BELLVILLE — The Clear Fork Valley Education Association has reached an agreement with the Clear Fork Valley Local School District board of education.
School board president Lori McKee confirmed the board unanimously approved a new contract agreement Thursday. The union had already voted in favor of the agreement. McKee said the board also voted to approve a contract with its support staff union.
McKee said she was satisfied with the terms of the agreement.
“We have a good school district and we know the community supports them,” McKee said. “The board supports the community as well as the teachers of the school. We want what’s in the best interest of the kiddos.”
Teachers had been working without a contract since the last three year agreement expired on June 30. CFVEA co-presidents Kourtney Kucirek and Stacie White said in a statement that members voted down two tentative agreements during the negotiations.
“Our members are proud of the gains that we made in our newly ratified contract,” Kucirek and White said.
“This agreement is fair to teachers and will help the district to attract and retain the high quality teachers our students deserve.”
Ninety seven percent of union members voted in favor of the agreement. Under the new contract, teachers will receive guaranteed raises for the next three years.
“We are very pleased with both contracts for the support staff and the teachers,” Supt. Janice Wyckoff said. “Our staff members deserved the raises they received.”
Supplemental pay for educators who work extra hours as a coach or advisor will increase for the first time since 2019.
The contract also increased pay for teachers who are mandated to cover additional classes when substitutes are unavailable and maintains health insurance benefits.
“A previous proposal would have included increased healthcare costs that would have completely canceled out any raises for some members,” the union statement read.
In their joint statement, Kucirek and White thanked union and community members for their engagement and support.
“We attended board meetings wearing ‘red for ed’ to show our unity, we rallied together at the district’s sporting events and we created buttons and signs for parents, neighbors, and local businesses who wanted to show their support,” the co-presidents said.
“We were able to eventually reach an agreement because our membership and our community stuck together.”
