By Steve Strunsky, NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
NORTH BERGEN — When North Bergen voters head to the polls in school elections next month, they’ll be asked to approve a proposed $48.8 million district-wide budget that would increase the school portion of their property tax bills by $52 for the average homeowner, district officials said.
[…]Salaries for about 720 faculty and administrators will go up under a 3-year teacher contract recently agreed upon by the district and the local bargaining unit of the American Federation of Teachers union.
The deal, which is retroactive to Sept. 1, 2016, and extends to Aug. 31, 2019, provides for raises of 2.9, 3 and 3.1 percent for the current school year and the next two, respectively.
Teachers worked the first half of this year under terms of the previous contract, after negotiations stretched beyond the old deal’s June 30 expiration date. A new deal was reached after a large group of teachers showed up the Board of Education’s Feb. 15 meeting demanding a settlement.
New North Bergen High School plan is a “once in a lifetime opportunity for North Bergen students and taxpayers,” Mayor Nicholas Sacco said.
“Settling this contract is a recognition of the excellence of North Bergen teachers and I want to thank every union member who worked together to stand up for a fair contract,” North Bergen Federation of Teachers President Elizabeth Lynch said in a statement last week.
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