By a 5 - 2 vote, the Rochester School Board on Thursday night approved a new three-year contract with the teacher’s union, the Rochester Teacher Association.
The contract includes a 3.6 percent pay hike effective July 1st, with retroactive pay and another 3.6 percent increase in each of the remaining two years. There will also be gradual increases in extra pay.
Among other provisions in the contract, language that says crimes committed in schools will “be pursued as crimes elsewhere, to the extent the District has the right to press charges for those crimes.” It also says that “In all other events, the District will fully support the teacher who chooses to press charges on his/her own behalf.”
District officials say that is similar to previous contract language and that the term “fully support” in the new contract means only that the district will provide available, relevant documentation and videos to law enforcement.
