Monday
April 29, 2024 
The Pennridge Education Association, which represents about 500 professional staff in the Pennridge School District, is optimistic a contract agreement can be reached before its current deal expires on June 30.
“We are pleased to report that the [school] board has bargained in good faith over the past several weeks and PEA remains committed to reaching an agreement before the current contract expires on June 30,” said association President Lydia Ramer Hunter. “PEA's goal is a contract that attracts and retains high-quality professional staff for current and future Pennridge students.”
School board vice president Megan Banis-Clemens, a member of the negotiating committee, echoed a similarly hopeful tone.
“Negotiations are moving forward in a positive direction and we are optimistic we will be able to come together soon on an agreement that is fair for staff and responsible for taxpayers,” Banis-Clens wrote in an email. “We value and appreciate the hard work of our staff in educating our students.”
Pennridge teachers are working under the terms of a five-year contract approved in September 2018. It set a starting salary of $45,000 and a maximum salary of $105,233 in the final year of the deal.
Both figures, the PEA says, are the lowest in Bucks County.
According to a timeline provided by the union, the two sides began negotiating in early January. The board’s initial proposal “did little to address this pay gap.”
After PEA's rejection of the board's initial proposal, which included increases to employee healthcare costs, the board failed to schedule additional negotiation sessions from the end of March through mid-May, according to the union.
“We appreciate the ongoing support of community members who share our belief in the value of high-quality professional staff,” Ramer Hunter said.
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