As the new school year gets underway, teachers in the Herscher district have a new five-year contract in place while the PBL teachers have agreed to a fresh three-year pact.

The usual three-year contract is actually a 5-year pact for the Unit 2 District at Herscher. Teachers will see an annual four-percent salary increase over the next five years. Concessions made by the teachers union include a freeze on health insurance benefits and a reduction on what had been a 3-year retirement benefit.

Also, teachers nearing retirement were receiving a 6% salary hike for each of their final three years. That's now reduced to just one year under terms of the new contract.

At Paxton, PBL Superintendent Cliff McClure said the school board and teachers agreed to a 9% raise over the life of the three-year contract. It calls for a 6% raise this fiscal year and 1.5% pay hike in the next two years. The pact is for support staff too.

The contract is effective immediately, retroactive to the start of this fiscal year on July 1. The contract runs through June 30, 2018.

94.1 WGFA