After a year of bargaining and overhaul, Cumberland-North Yarmouth district schools have finalized a new teacher contract with the Education Association, the teachers union for SAD 51. The new contract significantly changes the pay scale, reducing the number of steps from 37 to 25.

“(It) was long overdue. Our previous scale had almost 40 steps, which means it would take almost 40 years of teaching to get to the top, which is, of course, a very long time,” said Graham Shove, head of the SAD 51 Education Association.

“It’s going to increase career earnings for people, which is very important, and it’s going to get us closer to surrounding districts. We’re still lagging behind some surrounding districts in terms of pay, but we’re still very happy. And it’s a big win for all the educators at MSAD 51,” said Shove.

The Education Association is the largest of the five bargaining units in Cumberland-North Yarmouth district schools, and members had been working without a contract since September. The new contract – which applies retroactively from September 2024 to May 2027 – was ratified Jan. 16 and will extend to over 300 employees comprising of teachers, social workers, school nurses, librarians, guidance counselors, occupational therapists and speech and language therapists.

The changes to the pay scale will take place over the course of the contract. This was the largest change to the pay scale that has been made in the district over the past 30 years, said SAD 51 Superintendent Jeff Porter. Negotiations over the changes took approximately the last six months of 2024.

“We typically don’t change a lot with the actual scale, the structure of the scale, but because we’ve made so many changes and work with the association to do that, it took us so much longer than I think we normally would in a normal contract year, so that was probably the most significant change that we were able to make,” said Porter.

“I think both sides wanted to make changes. I don’t think there was any exception to that. I think the scale we knew was a little outdated and needed to be revamped,” he said.

Salaries and stipends were also increased in the new contract in exchange for teachers working two more days per year by the end of the contract. While individual salary increases will vary with experience and tenure, in aggregate salaries will be raised 3.7% in the 2024-2025 school year, nearly 8% next year, and 6.75% in the final year of the contract. Over the course of the contract, this will cost the district $3.82 million in salaries. Education Association members will receive backpay to September for the raise they received for this school year.

Pay scale steps and associated salaries are categorized based off education and teaching experience, and teachers advance one step per year. Under the teacher contract that expired on Aug. 31, pay for a new teacher with a bachelor’s degree began at $49,677 for the 2023-2024 school year. That same year, a teacher with a master’s who had advanced to “step 10” would receive a salary of $68,012. Per the new contract, in 2024-2025 new teachers with bachelor’s degrees will be eligible for pay that begins at $51,200, and with a master’s degree step 10 teachers will earn $71,976. According to data from the Maine Education Association, the average starting pay for teachers in Cumberland County in 2024 was $44,890 and for step 10 teachers with a master’s degree is $65,931.

Parental leave was changed in the contract to comply with Maine’s Paid Family and Medical Leave, which will take effect on May 1, 2026. Additionally, the use of annual leave was clarified.

The Education Association worked to improve working conditions in the contract. Now teachers will have a duty-free lunch break for 25 minutes, extending their break by five minutes.

“Even though it sounds small, it’ll make a big difference in people’s sort of day-to-day experience,” said Shove.

The contract’s appendix states the goal of having more dedicated planning time for teachers as well, to improve teachers’ workloads, said Shove.

Overall, both the school board and Education Association are glad to have a new contract settled after the extended process.

“It’s a very complicated process, especially the work we were doing on the wage scale, it just it took time. But the school board worked diligently with us to get the work done and to create a vastly improved pay scale,” said Shove.

“So that working relationship was great. The teachers on the negotiation team and all the educational professionals at the school (were) waiting on the contract patiently, and everybody was very happy when it ended, but they were patient and supportive during the whole process,” he said.