Luxemburg-Casco teachers finally have contract The agreement runs through next school year By Kevin Boneske News-Chronicle LUXEMBURG - It took almost the entire school year to finalize, but Luxemburg-Casco School District teachers have a new two-year contract. The School Board this week ratified a master contract for 2001-02, retroactive to the beginning of the school years, and 2002-03. Board approval officially ended an impasse that in recent weeks featured heated debate in the district over teacher pay and benefits. District Administrator Patrick Saunders said the negotiated contract includes a base salary figure that positions the district in the middle of Packerland Conference schools for both years. The teachers union voluntarily agreed to a "three-tier" drug card in an effort to "cooperatively control insurance costs," Saunders said. The board did not have to go to binding arbitration to settle the contract because the agreement exceeded a "qualified economic offer" with annual wage and benefit increases totaling more than 3.8 percent. Teachers worked most of the school year under the terms of the previous contract, which expired at the end of 2000-01. Under that salary schedule, a new teacher with a bachelor's degree earned an annual salary of $25,685, while the maximum pay for a teacher with a master's degree came in at $47,523. For 2001-02, those salaries range from $26,273 to $48,493; for 2002-03, new teachers will receive $26,704 with a maximum of $49,204. The board approved the new contract unanimously. Saunders said the board's Negotiations Committee had unanimously recommended the agreement, which was unanimously accepted by the teachers.