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Methacton board unanimously ratifies four-year contract with teachers' association
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Summary
The Methacton School District board unanimously approved a four-year collective bargaining agreement with the Methacton Education Association covering 07/01/2026–06/30/2030; the deal sets annual salary matrix increases, updates benefits language and adds several pay and staffing provisions intended to improve retention.
The Methacton School District Board of School Directors on Nov. 25 unanimously ratified a four‑year collective bargaining agreement with the Methacton Education Association that takes effect July 1, 2026, and runs through June 30, 2030. The motion carried 8–0.
Board Human Resources presenter Dr. Regina, who summarized the contract for the board, said the agreement sets annual salary‑matrix increases of 3.25% for 2026–27, 3.0% for 2027–28, 3.25% for 2028–29 and 3.25% for 2029–30 — a four‑year average increase of about 3.19% to the salary matrix. "The duration of the contract, which is a 4 year agreement. It will begin on 07/01/2026 and go through 06/30/2030," she told the board during the presentation.
The agreement includes benefit and language changes that the administration described as negotiated improvements and clarifications. Health‑benefit premium shares for employees will rise by 1 percentage point in each plan noted on the presentation; Dr. Regina described Open Choice 1 as the most generous option and the others as lower‑cost alternatives. Dental, vision and prescription benefit tables were also adjusted, with a 1% increase to employee shares reflected in the slides.
Several non‑salary items were highlighted by the district as targeted retention or operational changes:
- A $300 special‑education stipend that had been paid informally is now memorialized in the contract and increased to $500 per eligible position. - School psychologists will be eligible for up to 12 additional summer workdays at the district's per‑diem rate; counselors and social workers have graduated summer‑work maximums by level (high‑school counselors allowed more days than elementary staff), with language making those days a maximum rather than a guaranteed minimum. - Homebound instruction and direct supplemental instruction are set at $50 per hour; the district said this aligns pay with surrounding districts and aims to retain staff for ESY and remediation programs. - Mentor compensation will be $1,000 per mentor per year (up from roughly $931 currently). - The coaches and sponsors pay system was reworked: the contract replaces a legacy, point‑based system with a clearer, percentage‑and‑band structure and explicit stipend values for sponsor positions, the administration said. - A loyalty retirement incentive was included: employees with 20 or more years of service who retire with the district will receive a small annual payout (up to $100 per year), which the presentation said could total about $3,000 for some long‑service staff under certain calculations. - Language clarifications were added for evaluation timing (an update to the current 60‑day notice language), class coverage, curriculum‑coordinator roles and recess coverage (the contract shifts recess duty from 20 days at the start of the year to 15 days at the start and 10 days at the end, the presentation stated). - The high‑school schedule restrictions in older contracts were removed, the district said, to allow future scheduling innovations such as intervention periods or different start‑of‑day programming.
Dr. Regina described the agreement as an "early bird" contract with an unusually large number of language items addressed prior to the formal contract start, and board members praised the collaborative negotiation. Board member Winters thanked administration and Dr. Regina for the work; another board member said the revised activity/sponsor language and schedule language were especially important.
The board recorded no abstentions or negative votes on the ratification. The agenda packet lists the ratification under item 13 d and the board approved the "ratification of terms of the collective bargaining agreement between the Methacton School District and the Methacton Education Association effective 07/01/2026 through 06/30/2030." The motion carried 8 to 0.
What happens next: the district said administrators will implement the contract language, adjust payroll and benefit systems to reflect new percentages and stipend amounts, and bring any operational changes (for example, scheduling pilots) forward as needed for board or administrative approval.
