Newark, MD, August 15, 2023– The Worcester County Board of Education finalized agreements with both employee associations at today’s Board of Education meeting. The new agreements include the following salary adjustments, which are retroactively effective July 1, 2023.
- Worcester County Teachers Association (WCTA)
- Salary Adjustments
- A step increase and longevity for eligible employees
- A 1.14 percent cost of living adjustment
- 0.75% increase effective April 2023
- 0.39% increase effective July 1, 2023
- Longevity pay will increase by $100 to a total of $1,600
- Memorandum of Agreement: Retention bonus
- Eligible employees will receive a one-time bonus during the 2023-2024 school year in the amount of $2,250, which will be paid in two installments. This bonus is funded by amending ESSER and MD LEADS grant funds for this purpose.
- Salary Adjustments
- Worcester County Educational Support Personnel Association (WCESPA)
- Salary Adjustments
- A step increase and longevity for eligible employees
- A 1.64 percent cost of living adjustment
- 0.75% increase effective April 2023
- 0.89% increase effective July 1, 2023
- Longevity pay will increase by $100 to a total of $1,600
- Memorandum of Agreement: Retention bonus
- Eligible employees will receive a one-time bonus during the 2023-2024 school year in the amount of $1,000, which will be paid in one installment. This bonus is funded by amending ESSER and MD LEADS grant funds for this purpose.
- Salary Adjustments
In addition to formal negotiations with the WCTA and WCESPA bargaining units, the Board of Education also confirmed the following contractual changes for Worcester County Public Schools’ bus contractors. These changes became effective July 1, 2023.
- An hourly wage increase of $0.50 to hourly wage, bringing the hourly wage to $25.50
- The Fuel/Maintenance formula was increased from 1.62 to 1.742
- The Per Vehicle Allotment (PVA) was increased from $20,920 to $22,385
- Bus contractors will also receive a retention bonus of $1,000, funded through the amendment of ESSER and MD LEADS grant funds.
The finalized agreements were reached following two months of renegotiations. Renegotiations were necessary following the school system receiving Maintenance of Effort (MOE) funding as a part of the county’s budget adoption in June. Following the announcement of MOE funding, the Board of Education approved a series of funding cuts and directed school system leadership to examine possibly amending the ESSER and MD LEADS grants to fund the above mentioned retention bonuses.
“We are incredibly grateful to our associations and our bus contractors for their understanding and collaboration as we worked toward these agreements,” Superintendent of Schools Lou Taylor said. “Our teachers and staff are very deserving of a salary increase, and we hope that as we move forward, we can secure sustainable support not only for our employees, but for those important programs and projects that were unfortunately eliminated through the budget process this year.”